Lovestruck, Maybe?
by Emma-Kate9885
Summary: Maka and Soul deny that they have feelings for each other, but everyone feels that they do, and with all the new couples surrounding them, it is hard not to think about it. Could Maka forgive her papa and open up to Soul? Could Soul forget about his past long enough to let Maka in?
1. Accusations and Suggestions

The air was getting cooler and the wind started picking up as the golden yellow, orange, and red leaves floated to the ground in the strong gusts of air that came with Mid-November. Soul pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head to block out the wind. His favorite time of year was that time in the Post-Halloween autumn/winter period of confusion between the two seasons. The coolness against his face was always refreshing, and usually he loved to be outside on days like this. However, the blasts of air were giving him windburn. He hunched over in an effort to block some of the nippy wind from his poor defenseless ears.

Soul was currently walking through Death City Park. It was the only place in Death City that seemed a bit livelier than all the other spots in town (if you know what I mean). It was his favorite route to take home because few people came that way. He liked to be alone.

Today, though, he was not. Soul glanced over at Maka. She was smiling happily as she spun around in the crisp, cool air. He couldn't believe it had been five whole years, and they had just completed first semester of their senior year at DWMA. She had grown up. Not to mention, she had filled out a lot. He could barely call her Tiny Tits anymore. He shook the thought out of his head. Maka noticed he was watching her and beamed; her cheeks and nose a rosy pink. He couldn't help but smile back. It was a calm, sweet and genuine smile that hardly anyone but Maka ever got to see, and even for her it was a rare sight.

"What's gotten you in such a great mood, short stack?" He asked her teasingly.

"I just love the weather today. It's marvelous. It's my favorite time of year," Maka said as she closed her eyes and grinned, looking up at the sky. Soul nodded as he caught himself staring at her full lips and her exposed cream colored neck. He shook his head at the thought, not mentioning that he had been sharing her same opinion on the weather just a moment ago.

He turned to his right and looked at where the tree line met the sky by the woods. The sky was morphing from its grey blue to hues of purple, pink, and orange as the sun began to set. It would be getting colder after dark, and it would be totally uncool if either of them caught a cold on the first day of winter break.

"Yo, Maka?" he asked as she turned to him with her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Soul?"

"Do you want to take a short cut to the apartment? We could stop by the café on the corner and I'll buy you your favorite holiday drink: Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino," he stated with a grin, knowing she would not be able to resist his offer.

She gave him a sly grin, "You drive a hard bargain, Soul. Fine, I'll go with you. It's getting late anyways."

He offered her his arm which she gladly accepted as the two good friends marched across the street to the small café. The person whom ran it was a sweet, middle-aged woman named Marie. She was a well-known DeathScythe. She had been working as a partner to Stein, and, lately, the two had been seen together on dates and such. They were polar opposites, but Soul just thought that must balance them out. Marie always knew how to make someone feel better and was a great listener. She also knew how to make the yummiest coffee and sweet drinks to warm your heart and nose on a cold night. She glanced up and smiled brightly as the pair of her favorite customers waltzed in.

"Soul, Maka. It's nice to see you again. How are you?" Marie asked in her usual sweet voice.

"We're great, Marie. What about you?" Maka chimed in as she and Soul sat down at their usual table and Marie brought their drinks. You could say they came here often.

"I'm fine," she replied with a sigh, "I just wish it was as easy for Stein and I as it is for you two. You have to be the cutest couple ever aside from Kidd and Crona."

Maka and Soul both felt their cheeks getting a bit warm as Soul cleared his throat, "Um…we aren't…"

It was now Marie's turn to blush, "Oh, sorry, I just thought… Seeing you on his arm…"

Marie glanced back and forth from Maka and Soul. Maka caught Marie's eye, and Soul thought he saw Maka give her a slight shake of her head to say 'no', but he couldn't be sure. Suddenly, Maka became interested in her cappuccino and how dark it was getting.

"Oh, no," she said hurriedly as she glanced at Soul and grabbed her bag, "It's my turn to make dinner tonight, and I really need to get started. Is pasta okay tonight, Soul?" she asked him, still kind of flustered.

Soul just nodded as he smirked and thanked Marie as he paid for the drinks, and he and Maka started on the walk home with cappuccinos in hand.

"Well, that was awkward," Soul said, attempting conversation.

"Yeah, it was," Maka agreed.

"I mean, us? Impossible!" he stated jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…" Maka scoffed, then she added quietly, "Impossible…"

Soul didn't know for sure, but he had the idea that he had just made things worse. _Not cool, Soul_, he thought to himself, _not cool at all._

As they reached the apartment, Maka let them in and immediately began working on the spaghetti. While she waited for the water to begin boiling and the sauce to simmer with the cooked meat, she sat at the table and read.

Soul stood by the table uncomfortably. He hesitated for a moment before he said, "Maka… I didn't mean it like that, I—"

Maka held up her hand, "Soul, stop. I get it. You don't think of me that way. You think of me as a close friend and nothing more. Don't worry, that is ay-okay with me. I don't need you to lie or sugar-coat it. Really, it is no problem."

Maka looked up and smiled, but Soul could tell it was fake.

"Whatever," he said as he slumped off towards his room. Soul was fuming. How would she know how he felt about her? Sure, it was true, but she didn't have to be acting so hurt about it. Why was she acting hurt? She didn't act like she liked him like that, so there would be no reason for her to get all defensive about it? Gosh, she was infuriating. Maka yelled at him all the time, and she definitely didn't have any romantic thoughts about him. That much was obvious. As he thought the words in his mind he knew he was right. Right?

Soul shook his head to stop thinking about it and calm down. He stripped of his shirt and jeans and grabbed his towel to head for the bathroom.

**Okay so…. Waddaya think? Hmmmm? Is it too mushy or slow or what? I need opinions! Review?! Please?**


	2. Spaghetti, an Apology, and Aruguing

**I would like to thank all of my readers and everyone that posted reviews and followed the story. Thanks so much! :)**

Maka heard Soul growl in frustration through the door. She felt bad that she had pushed him away, but she couldn't let him think that she felt something she didn't for him. Sure, she had thought about it. Soul was… Soul. Utterly good looking and sweet, goofy Soul. Not that that mattered. Maka knew that all guys were trouble. That was a very valuable and important life lesson her papa had taught her.

She slid down against the wall by the bathroom as she heard him turn on the water. She imagined him shirtless, and now pants less as he stepped into the deluge of hot water pouring over him. Maka shook her head. What was she thinking? Soul would never like her in that way. If he did, he wouldn't call her Tiny Tits, or short stack, or say she had no sex appeal, and stuff like that. Still, she just didn't get why she couldn't get him out of her head.

Maybe it was because they hadn't gotten a mission or out of the house for a while. Being all cooped up in a small, three bedroom apartment with a member of the opposite sex was sure to drive one up the wall. Maka decided she needed some girl time. She would go with Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Crona to the spa tomorrow like they had offered. At first, she planned on turning it down so she could get some reading done, but now it seemed like a great idea. She smiled and got up to go check on the spaghetti.

Soul felt better after the shower. A lot better. The warm water pounding and massaging his back and chest always helped to relieve stress. He warily walked into the kitchen while drying his hair off with a towel. He just hoped Maka wouldn't be mad at him.

As he stepped into the kitchen, he noticed Maka seemed a bit happier. She was humming as she cooked and kind of swaying her hips in rhythm to the tune. Soul was mesmerized by the way she moved. It was weird watching his meister like that, but he couldn't help himself. He quickly averted his gaze and started drying his hair again when she began to turn around. Thankfully, she couldn't see his blush because his face was hidden from view by the towel. He also couldn't see her…

Maka turned as she heard Soul walking up behind her. She couldn't help but stare. Soul was clad in loose, baggy, red and black plaid pajama pants that clung to his hips in such a way that, without a shirt on, one could see the top of his solid black boxers, and since he wore no shirt, Maka could see it all.

She let her eyes wander over Soul's toned, tanned body. She traced the scar on his chest with her eyes, and bit her lip. Maka was so glad he couldn't see her face because she was definitely blushing.

"Food done, yet?" Soul asked as he started to remove the towel from his head. He thought he saw Maka quickly turn away from him. _Had she been staring at him? Nah, it had to be his imagination._

"Just about," she answered calmly, "Just sit down and I'll bring it over in a minute."

Soul did as she said and patiently looked up at her, "You seem… happy all of a sudden."

"Shouldn't I be?" Maka asked as she set the table. She looked up at him.

"Yeah… I guess I… Forget it," Soul said as he blushed slightly and became suddenly interested in the spaghetti noodles on his plate.

"Soul," said Maka, her voice sounded really small and quiet compared to his. He glanced up at her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. It was really inconsiderate of me. You're my partner and I can talk to you, listen to you. That's how we defeated Asura and Arachne anyways, right? We're a team, and we can't let something like a silly little argument get in between us."

Maka gave Soul a genuine, sweet smile, and Soul couldn't help but grin. He nodded in agreement and added, "So what has you in such a good mood then?"

She looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"

Soul answered through a mouthful of spaghetti, "I faw you danfing ofa dere. You fere humming and finging."

Maka couldn't help herself as she guffawed at he had said, and the comical expression on Soul's face to her reaction made her laugh even harder. Soul swallowed his spaghetti and sunk low in his chair as his ears and face turned as crimson as his eyes.

As she finally caught her breath, Maka wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes and said, "You—you shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Soul. You also look funny when you're trying to get a serious point across through a mouthful of food." She took a deep breath and sighed, "I was happy because I'm looking forward to going with the girls on a spa trip tomorrow."

Soul raised a brow. This kind of behavior did not seem like his meister, "I thought you hated girl time. You always said it bothered you that all they would talk about were boys and who was hitting on whom and that it gave you a migraine. You would much rather stay home and read a book and drink hot cocoa."

It was Maka's turn to raise her eyebrows, "Since when have you paid such close attention to what I like and don't like, and how do you know that I hum and dance while I cook when I'm happy, Mr. Soul Eater Evans? Just how long were you standing there? I knew it! I knew you were watching me!"

Soul's face began to turn red again as he tried to think of a comeback, "Oh, yeah? Don't try to act so innocent, little Miss Maka because I saw you watching me when I came into the kitchen. You can't keep your eyes off of me when I'm in a towel or shirtless. I've seen you undressing me with your eyes! When were you gonna mention that, huh?"

Maka began to turn as red as her partner, as she stood up so quickly, she knocked her chair over, "How dare you make an accusation like that?!" she screamed.

"And I'm the only one making accusations here, am I? Sure, just blame everything on Soul because it's always his fault, or he won't mind because Soul is too cool to get worked up about little things. Well, Maka, I don't know if you noticed, but little things build up over time into one big mass of darkness hanging over you and weighing you down. I never say anything because I'm worried I might hurt your feelings or get hit in the head with a freaking dictionary or Shakespeare's collective works every time I turn around! It's like I'm in a minefield with you, Maka, and if I set one toe out of line, it is all going to blow up in my face, and that is definitely not cool! Tell me why I put up with that, Maka because I sure as hell don't know!"

By this time both of them were standing, faces red, and out of breath. Maka looked near tears and Soul felt more than guilty for causing her pain like that. He didn't mean it. He was just caught up in the moment and couldn't help it. He didn't think before he spoke.

Maka looked down at her hands on the table. They were the only things keeping her stable right now. She could barely contain the tears as her shoulders shook from the sobs she was attempting to hold in, "If you can't stand being here, why don't you leave?" Her voice was deadly quiet, and Soul could tell she was on the verge of breaking.

"Maka, I-," Soul began.

"Don't!" she yelled as her head shot up to face him, "Don't you dare lie and say that you're sorry! No one ever means it. Especially men. They lie and lie and cheat until they break the person that loves them! Everything falls apart. I now know I can't trust anyone with my heart. It's not like they would want it anyways as a friend or lover because apparently I am too abusive, too demanding. I'm sorry I'm not perfect, Soul! I try, I really do! You know… I used to just blame Papa, but now… Now all the credit goes to you, Soul. You receive the award for fooling me. You taught me not to trust, not to love. So take a bow, Soul! Are you going to push me out of your life and find comfort in Chupa Cabra's like Papa did? Or are you just gonna leave me to fend for myself like Mama? Either way, you'd think I'd be used to it by now…"

Soul met Maka's emerald eyes with his crimson ones. He could see and feel the pain he had inflicted on this girl by a poor choice of words. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to comfort her, take her pain away, but he didn't deserve to even do that. He broke eye contact with her, tears forming in his eyes.

"I-I've gotta go," he said briskly, and without a glance at Maka, he stalked out of the room and into his bedroom, leaving the girl with a frozen and crippled heart to fend for herself once again.


	3. Forgiveness

**Thanks so much for following the story and the reviews. Each one makes me happy. Hugs for MAKA N SOUL, LeaCarosella for reviewing and extra hugs to Kartos and JustAnotherNumber for leaving two reviews. Now more story and less of me...**

Soul cursed himself as soon as he was in the safety of his room. _You screwed up big time, Soul. Now she'll never talk to you again. Totally uncool._ He ran his fingers through his thick, white hair and exhaled deeply. _I'll apologize tomorrow after she cools down. I just hope she'll hear me out._

He climbed into bed, and closed his eyes, as a small silver tear made its way down his cheek.

* * *

**Maka**

She climbed in her bed and curled up into a ball. She hated how Soul could do that, how he could so easily break her down until she was crumbled to pieces. She hated how he knew her so well that he knew all the right words to say when he's apologizing. She couldn't stand it, but she somehow found it comforting. Maka knew he didn't mean to say what he did like he did, but that didn't mean that his words didn't cut into her like no one else ever could.

Maka's tears had long since dried. She lay there on her bed thinking. _Had he really noticed the way I stare at him? Do I really do it that much? Do I yell at him too much? He never really seemed to mind… I only do what I do because I care for him. He __**is **__my partner, after all…_

Maka knew she cared for Soul. He was her partner, but she also knew that she cared for him as more than that, but as what…?

* * *

**Soul**

He woke to the sound of birds chirping. Soul stretched and yawned as he glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. It read 7:45am. Soul stretched back on his bed. In fifteen minutes, Maka would be coming in to wake him, telling him breakfast was ready.

Soul's smile faded as he recalled the argument from last night. She was probably gone, or she slept in as an excuse to not have to see him. Soul didn't blame her. Honestly, he blamed himself. He shouldn't have gotten all worked up over teasing. They teased each other all the time, but lately, they were arguing more and more. He hated that. Maka was his partner. She was the one who made him a DeathScythe, the one who had been by his side during the entire ordeal with the black blood. Maka deserved so much better than him, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. He couldn't abandon her like everyone else.

Soul got up out of bed. He needed to apologize. Again. And maybe he should go ahead and apologize for a second time for future reference. He left his room and noticed her door was cracked.

"Maka?" he asked as he knocked on her door, pushing in open slightly to find it empty. His heart fell to his stomach. She had left already. He was about to leave when…

"Soul? What are you doing in here?"

**Maka**

Maka had walked into her room to find a sad-looking Soul standing in the middle of her room, "Soul? What are you doing in here?"

She saw him visibly jump at the sound of her voice. He turned, and his face instantly turned red. Maka was clad in only a towel, and her hair was damp and in wavy locks that framed her face like a golden halo. He looked down at his feet in attempt to hide the blush.

"I-I um…," Soul began, "Sorry, I'll just go…"

Soul made a move to leave, but Maka grabbed his arm, "Soul? I know you didn't mean what you said. You were just upset at me for teasing you and accusing you of so much. I yell too often, and I understand that I sometimes take advantage of your kindness. I'm sorry."

Soul looked into her eyes, and Maka saw the pain behind them, "No, you don't understand, Maka," he told her. "I shouldn't have said what I did regardless of conditions. I crossed a line I shouldn't have last night. Your teasing and yelling? Sure, it bothers me sometimes, but most the time, it shows me that you care. Don't blame yourself because it's me that needs the blame. I'd blame it on the black blood, but really, it's just me being a dick. I hate that we argue all the time. I hate that you feel you can't trust me anymore because I care about you. You're more than just a friend or my partner, Maka. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure only a friend doesn't feel this way. Maybe it's our resonance or…."

Maka cut him off by pressing a finger to his lips. She watched his eyes grow wide and a little of a blush return to his cheek, "You're babbling, Soul," she said with a slight smile. She leaned in and brushed her lips against his cheek, "And maybe you are right. Maybe it's the link between our souls. Just know that you are forgiven, and I still need to apologize for saying you'd lost my trust. I don't think you could ever really do something to make me not trust you. Even I can say things without thinking, Shark Tooth."

She grinned and Soul smirked as he recalled his old nickname, "Well, I can hardly call you Tiny Tits anymore, but…"

Maka laughed as she playfully threw a book at his head, which he nimbly dodged, "You're ever the pervert, Soul. Now get out. I have to change. Unless, of course, you _want_ to see me naked," she teased with a mischievous half-smile.

Soul snorted and replied, "In your dreams, Tiny Tits."

Soul gave her his usual lazy smile and stalked out of the room, but Maka didn't miss the slight pinkness to his sun-tanned cheeks as he left. She also noted to herself that even though she was teasing, she felt a flutter in her chest as she had made that offer, knowing that part of her wanted him to accept. She pushed those thoughts out of her head as she prepared for her day with the girls.


	4. A Day Out

**This is a little bit of a longer chappie for you guys since I love you bunches. I really should be asleep, but seeing reviews from JustAnotherNumber and the follows inspired me *yawn* Time for bed. Hope you enjoy. :)  
**

**Maka**

She quickly made a breakfast of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and orange juice for her and Soul. The air was lighter after they had cleared up the situation from last night. She hung her apron up and said her goodbyes telling Soul that lunch was in the fridge before grabbing her jacket and heading out the door. She had promised Tsubaki that she would meet her at the coffee shop.

Maka had only just begun to walk down the street when Soul appeared in the doorway to their home, "I was going to head out anyways to hang with the guys today. You need a ride, short stack?"

Maka mentally rolled her eyes and nodded. Short stack? Soul locked the door to the apartment, and started his motorcycle. Maka climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. It brought back memories of past missions and even certain days in Venice when they had just spent time sight-seeing. Soul seemed to speed up on purpose to get her to wrap her arms tighter around him

Maka blushed at the thought, glad he couldn't see her face since it was buried in his back. She loved being close to him. He smelled so good… She shook those thoughts out of her head as he pulled up in front of the coffee shop. Tsubaki was waiting patiently outside.

Maka jumped off a bit too quickly and waved to Soul with a smile, "Thanks for the ride. See you at dinner time, Soul."

"Anytime," he replied coolly, "Have fun on your girl's day out."

He sped off down the street as Maka watched him go.

"So…? Are you ready to go, or are you too busy daydreaming about your partner?" Maka heard a delicate voice chime behind her.

Maka jumped, "Tsubaki! I was not daydreaming about Soul!"

Tsubaki just laughed, "You can say what you like, Maka, but the look in your eyes and the way you were so quick to defend yourself kind of defeats the purpose."

Maka rolled her eyes and groaned, "You've been spending too much time with Black*Star."

Tsubaki giggled again as they headed off down the street to the spa.

"You know," said Maka as she sat with her hair in a dryer and nails drying while a cute, young girl gave her a pedicure, "This isn't half bad. Maybe I should come with you guys more often. This is really…relaxing."

The girls around her smiled. They were happy that Maka had finally given into their spa day trip, but, of course, they all were wondering what her motive was for her sudden change in attitude. Things like this only meant she needed to confide in her best friends. Usually the info she gave them involved Soul.

"But then, wouldn't that affect quality time spent with Soouul?" Patty asked, putting an emphasis on Soul's name.

"Why would that matter?" questioned Maka, a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

"Oh, no reason," assured Liz, "Just that Tsubaki informed us of you riding up with Soul on his bike, basically clinging to him for dear life."

Maka's face flushed, "Tsubaki! I was not! He was just driving faster than usual, and I didn't want to fall off."

"Mmhmm," said Patty in a sing-song voice, "Maka's got it bad for Soul!"

"I do not!"

"Face it, Maka. You like him, like him," stated Liz.

"Yeah. No offense, Maka, but you have been kind of out of it this entire day as if you were thinking an awful lot about something," Crona piped in.

"Or someone," added Liz.

"You were also daydreaming this morning as you watched him drive away, Maka," hummed Tsubaki.

Maka didn't know what to do. Her face was getting hot and red, and the looks she was getting were too much, so she did the only thing she could do. She buried her face in her hands. This, however, only seemed to prove her friends' point, and they all cat-called and whistled.

"This is impossible," said Maka through her hands.

"No, it isn't," Liz said to her, "We all know you've been crushing on Soul for a while now."

Maka took a deep breath. There was no point in denying it. She knew that what they were saying was true, "It's just so overwhelming. Every day I'm in the same house with him. I'm so close to him, and I can feel his eyes on me. I also can't take my eyes off of him, but we just don't admit it to each other. Last night, he came into the kitchen with no shirt on and it was all I could do to keep myself in place. Soul has the perfect body, and sometimes when we're talking, the things he says are so deep and thoughtful and poetic that I just want to melt right there, and the way he looks at me. Gosh, it's so intense I want to scream sometimes. I want to tell him how I feel, but every time I try, it ends up in an argument."

All four of the girls stared at Maka with wide-eyed expressions. Maka had just confessed not only that she liked Soul, but that she had…

"My Death, Maka is in love with Soul," Crona whispered.

Everyone had been thinking it, but it had seemed like an imaginary thought or some vague idea until Crona had said it aloud. Then all the girls were giggling and whistling and Patty was singing _Soul and Maka sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…_ Maka's face was as red as a tomato, and Tsubaki was trying to calm her down.

Maka eventually held up a hand to silence them, "So… how do I tell him?"

Everyone seemed dumbfounded. Except for Crona.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? If you can't tell him, show him. Start by little things at first: brushing hands when you walk, a sweet smile, maybe a kiss on the cheek. Eventually, Soul will start to show those things towards you, and maybe that'll get him to open up to you. It's what Kidd did with me."

Maka looked at the girls surrounding her, "Thanks guys, you're the best. I just hope he feels the same."

**Soul**

As he was driving Maka to the coffee shop, he purposefully drove a bit faster than usual as an excuse for her to wrap her arms more tightly around him. He could feel her pressed against his back, and maybe he enjoyed it a bit more than he should.

Soul couldn't help but notice her eagerness to get off the bike and the blush on her face as she thanked him, "Thanks for the ride. See you at dinner time, Soul."

"Anytime," he had answered, "Have a fun girl's day out."

When he drove off, he couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted to go back and steal her away just so he could have her close. He didn't understand why he couldn't stop thinking about her, so that's what he was doing now. Sitting in Los Amigos, a Mexican restaurant that the group of friends often came to eat at or just hang out, thinking about his meister. And his meister this morning. In a towel. When she kissed his cheek. What was that about anyways?

"Hello? Earth to Soul. It's your turn to order, wise guy," said Kidd, interrupting his thoughts.

Soul turned to the waiter, "Will you have the usual, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Soul answered.

As soon as the waiter left, Kidd attacked, "So whatcha thinking about there, Soul? It seems awfully interesting for you to have missed out on our whole conversation of Black*Star's last mission."

"Yes," chimed Black*Star, "What in the world could be more interesting than hearing what your god has accomplished?"

Soul's face flushed, "N-nothing."

"C'mon, Soul. We know you were thinking about Maka," said Kidd.

"You do?"

"No, but you just told us, so tell us what about Maka that has you so preoccupied, hmm?" Kidd coaxed.

Soul cursed himself for falling for that trick. It was the one he had used oh so many times on Kidd when he first started crushing on Crona.

He swallowed, "Um… it's...nothing."

"Well, we've already established that it is not nothing, and therefore it is something so spill as your god commands it, Eater," stated Black*Star.

"Fine," said Soul as he exhaled deeply, "It's Maka. I just can't seem to get her out of my head lately."

"Obviously," scoffed Kidd as Black*Star snorted.

Soul rolled his eyes, "Well, she's practically driving me crazy. She's always near me, just close enough to touch. She's so smart and funny and beautiful, it's intoxicating. I know she wants me, too. I feel her eyes on me all the time, especially when my shirt is off. She's cute when she's mad even though she is deadly when she's mad, too. The things she says are so subtly sweet and gentle, it nearly makes me mad. When I'm around her, it's all I can do not to pull her in and just lay one on her. And the way she sways her hips while humming and cooking kills me. I want to tell her how I feel, but it always ends up with argument after argument."

Soul let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He looked up at Kidd and Black*Star who were openly staring at him.

"My, my," stated Kidd, "Soul is in love with Maka."

Black*Star howled as Soul's face flushed once again, "No, no way. That's impossible."

"I beg to differ," said Black*Star with a mouthful of enchilada, "and gods don't beg, so that says something."

"I agree with Star," said Kidd.

Soul just shook his head, "I refuse to believe it. Even if I did, it'd me wasted. I'm not good enough for her and she wouldn't want someone like me anyways."

Kidd just smiled, "Soul, just wait. If she shows no more signs of affection towards you within the next month, then she has no feelings for you, but if she does, she's trying to show you how much she wants to be with you. If she loves you, don't push her away, just show her how you love her back."

Soul nodded as his mind went on hyper-drive. There was no doubt about it. He was pretty sure he loved Maka. He just hoped she felt the same.


	5. A Night to Remember

**Thanks so much for the great reviews! They make me happy to see them. I could never get to many. Thanks again. And special hugs to JustAnotherNumber and MAKA N SOUL for reviewing every chapter. You guys rock!  
**

**Maka**

She smiled as she made her way down the street to the coffee shop where Soul would pick her up. She felt refreshed after her day with the girls. She also felt the sudden need to be with him. She was planning on how she would get closer to him without scaring him away.

As she rounded the corner, she wasn't paying attention and ran right into something blocking her path, "Oof," it said.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going-," Maka began.

She was interrupted by a familiar chuckle, "Chill, Maka. It isn't like someone as small as you could do any damage."

Maka looked up to find that she was face to face with none other than Soul, "Oh, I um…"

Maka blushed as she realized that Soul was still holding her closely in a somewhat protective way from when they bumped into each other. Soul seemed to notice it just as soon as she did, and he pulled away.

"Sorry," he spoke softly. He gestured towards the orange bike sitting by the road. There were two coffees sitting in the basket on the front of the bike, "I got you some coffee. We should get home before it gets too cold."

"Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino?" Maka couldn't help but ask with a shy smile.

Soul smirked, "Just as you like it," he replied as they got on the motorcycle, "Hang on tight."

For once, Maka listened. She was content to stay there holding onto his waist tightly as she closed her eyes and felt the crisp, cool wind on her face.

**Soul**

Maka pulled off her jacket as she walked through the door giggling at something Soul had said. Her face was flushed from the cold outside. Soul couldn't stop looking at her. She was so cute. She looked up at him with that smile of hers.

Caught.

"Whatcha looking at there, Soul?" she teased him.

Soul felt his face get slightly warmer as he just shook his head and stuttered, "I-I was just… um…"

Maka just giggled and stepped a bit closer to him. Soul tensed. What was she doing? Was Kidd right? His mind raced as she came closer and closer. Was she about to…?

Maka tugged at his jacket and pulled off his head band, "Going somewhere? Why don't you stay a while?"

He watched her grin at him as she put his things in the coat closet. He hesitantly walked over to the small table in the middle of their living room and set down their coffees. He looked up to see Maka looking at him questioningly.

He smirked at her, "What? I still feel bad for what I said. I owe you for not walking out that door, and I want to make it up to you."

She let him take her hand and pull her into the living room where he sat her down on the couch. He could feel her eyes on him as he pulled out a big quilt, Mint Choco-Chip ice cream, and an old movie. Soul couldn't help but smile big as she eyed him curiously.

"What movie is that?" she interrogated him, "And what are you planning?"

"I told you," Soul answered, "I owe you. And this? It's my favorite movie from when I was younger. I know it's kind of cheesy, but…"

"What is it called?" Maka asked as she took a sip of her Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino.

Soul felt another blush creep up on his cheeks, "Rigoletto…"

Maka's jaw dropped, "Nu-uh. There's no way. That's my favorite movie!"

Soul's blush deepened, "Really?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think anyone else had ever even heard of it. I just love the songs and the plot all together. Oh, and the way Ribaldi sings and plays the piano-," Maka caught herself as a blush then crept up on her face.

Soul grinned, "Piano, huh? So that's what you're into. Interesting fact to know."

"Just put in the movie, Shark Tooth," said Maka impatiently.

"Okay, okay," Soul gave in, "Don't be so touchy, Tiny Tits."

Soul popped in the movie, and picked his seat next to Maka on the couch. He didn't miss the way she slightly leant into him.

"I thought you said this morning that you could hardly call me Tiny Tits anymore," Maka teased.

"Shh," replied Soul, "Watch the movie and eat your ice cream."

"Yes, sir," Maka retorted, "Who died and made you master because it sure wasn't me?"

Soul scoffed, but didn't reply as Bonnie's voice came on and start the story of the Elven prince, Rigoletto. He wanted to watch the movie, but he couldn't help but let his eyes wander to the girl beside him. She was so beautiful, and had the smoothest, creamy white skin. His eyes drifted down to her sea shell pink lips. He caught himself. _What are you doing, Soul? Do you want to prove Kidd and Black*Star right? You can't keep acting like a lovesick puppy. Not cool, man._

He shook his head and noticed Maka watching him. He looked over at her, and she quickly turned her head away. She had been caught. Soul smiled to himself and pretended not to notice the small bit of pinkness that had blossomed on her cheeks. _She sure blushes a lot_, he thought to himself. In the back of his mind, he thought how he seemed to be blushing a lot more lately as well, but Soul being Soul and keeping his cool being his most important rule, didn't think any more of it. He couldn't become the lovesick puppy again. He couldn't take the rejection again.

He turned his attention back to the movie. It had gotten to his favorite part. The part where Bonnie accuses Ribaldi of being a monster, and then he calls Hans in there to play while he sings "The Curse." Call him a big Cheespuff, but the sound of Ribaldi's voice always brought tears to his eyes. It didn't take long before he was lost in the movie.

**Maka**

She could feel his eyes on her, and she knew he had caught her staring. Eventually she noticed him tune in to the movie. Maka tried to focus on it, but her mind kept wandering. She kept thinking of her conversation with Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Crona earlier that day.

_Does he feel the same way? It seems like he does, but he's so distant. What could I do? I could only attempt to open up. It's like Crona said, right? It might take a while, but he'll come around. So why was she so impatient?_

Maka was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the movie was over until she felt something move under her. She sat up with a start. She had melted into Soul. They had been lying down on the couch, her in his arms. Maka smiled as she thought of his comfortable warmth. She allowed Soul to get up and turn off the TV and take their dishes to the sink.

She watched as he quietly washed them off and placed them on the drying rack. He turned to catch her staring, "What?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. You just seem so…"

"So what?"

"So… I dunno. Happy? Content? Comfortable."

Soul smiled at her, an actual smile. It was that smile that he so rarely gifted her with that sent a shiver up her spine. Why hadn't she seen it earlier? He was the most annoyingly adorable person in the world, and he completely and irrevocably had her heart in hand. She just hoped he wouldn't break it.

**Soul**

He watched her as she stood with the quilt wrapped around her shoulders, "Well, we should get to bed," she told him. Death, she looked so cute when she was sleepy.

"Yeah," he agreed, "we probably should."

They walked into the hallway, and he was about to retreat into his room before she stopped him, "Soul?"

He turned to find her standing in her doorway right behind him, "Yeah?"

She smiled and shyly looked down at her feet before looking back up at him, "Um… Next Thursday is Thanksgiving…"

"Yeah," Soul said again. What was she about to ask?

"Well, I was wondering," she began, "Would you like to come to my family dinner Wednesday? We always do it a day before because DeathScythes run in the family and most of them have to work on Thanksgiving."

Soul stared, shocked for a moment, and then his expression relaxed, "Sure. I would love to go, but you know, it isn't cool for a girl to ask a guy out on the first date."

Maka smirked, "But it wasn't the first date."

Before his mind could register what she was doing, Maka had approached him and lifted his chin to just barely brush her lips with his in a soft kiss. The action sent his mind in a whirl. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach and heat rushed like a wave of electricity through his body. And it ended almost as soon as it began. He opened his eyes to see Maka's face so close to his, her so close to him.

"Thanks for tonight, Soul," she whispered, "Good night."

"Yeah," Soul said once again, speechless, "You, too…"

And like that, she was gone, leaving him dumbfounded in the hallway, half way in his doorway to his room, and all he could think was _Wow._

* * *

**B. ... "Rigoletto" is an actual amazing movie, and I was going to use something like the Princess Bride which is another one of my favorite movies, but it's just too overused, so I decided on Rigoletto. You guys should check it out! (or not, that's cool, too if you are a sore loser. ;P) jk but seriously check it out. :D  
**


	6. An Old Friend

**Hi guys, sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been busy with family for Thanksgiving and there's this thing called highschool so yeah... Warning, there is an OC introduced in this chapter. She's from another fanfic I'm writing with LotsOfChocolateOnTop called I.M.R - The Trio of Trouble. It is a working progress, but it explains how Maka comes to know this particular OC. If you like, you can check it out. Happy Reading!**

Maka had a slight swing to her step as she walked down the road to the grocery shop. It was Tuesday, two days since her day out. Two days since her night with Soul. Two days since _she_ had kissed _him_. She smiled at this thought. Things hadn't gotten weird since it happened. Things had just gotten better. More and more often, Soul would flirt with her, just little things. He would give her that smirk of his or wink so subtly she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, or, as he had done last night, come up behind her and wrap his strong, toned arms around her waist, startling her and ask what she's cooking as he watched for a few moments before releasing her.

Maka checked her shopping list. She needed supplies for the roast dinner tonight and stuff to make a pumpkin pie for her family's Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. She also needed ginger for the butterbeer, and Hershey chocolate chips for the cookies she made with her Grandma. She was looking forward to seeing her family members and introducing them to Soul. Soul. Soul was coming with her. Maka blushed and smiled slightly as she entered the grocery store, Death-Mart.

She didn't realize she was being followed until someone spoke up beside her, "Whatcha thinking about there, Maka?"

Maka's head shot up as she heard the familiar voice. She looked up to see an all-too-familiar girl standing before her. She had long brown hair braided down to the middle of the back of her head and then left to flow freely bangs covering one eye that she made sure to be sweep to the side just to get on her certain symmetry obsessed friend's nerves. She was clothed in sapphire blue and silver. She wore a silver camisole under a solid blue, hooded shirt with silver trim and a pair of oddly symmetrical ripped jeans with black, knee-high boots with laces all the way up, but what set her apart from others were her vibrant violet eyes.

Maka smiled at the demon shadow weapon, "Iyame. When did you get back in town?"

Iyame shrugged and began slowly walking with Maka, "A few hours ago. I went right by to see you, but when I asked Soul he said you had gone to the store to get some supplies for dinner tonight and some things for the Thanksgiving dinner with your family that you two were going to tomorrow. I also couldn't help but notice the slight blush on his face when I mentioned your name. It's much like the one on your face now actually," she deadpanned.

Maka's face flushed and she sighed audibly, "Just like you, Iyame. Always a step ahead and never missing a beat. I admire that about you."

Suddenly Iyame was in front of Maka's cart, preventing her from moving and blocking her path and escapes, "Don't play games with me Maka. I know something is going on, and as your favorite best friend, I don't like being left in the dark, so spill."

Maka had no choice but to tell her. Not that she minded it was just that it was so public, but if she knew Iyame, she was positive that Iyame would not back down until she had gotten enough information to be satisfied. So Maka told her everything that had been going on since the beginning of senior year: how the arguing had escalated and how she had felt and what Liz and the other girls had told her and two days ago with Soul…

Iyame listened intently as they walked through the store. Iyame had taken Maka's list and was putting objects in the cart since Maka was too distracted by her story telling to pay attention to what she was supposed to be doing. After she was done rattling, she realized that she was out of breath, and, like always, had poured her heart out to Iyame as easily as talking to her Grandma which was easier than anything else. It was something about Iyame's soul as Maka had discovered when she met her.

Iyame nodded as she took everything in, "So you guys are dating now."

It wasn't a question, it was definitely a statement, "W-what? No! It isn't like that-," Maka choked out.

"Oh, okay, so you and Soul are just really close friends with benefits who happen to be in love," Iyame said snidely.

Maka opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, opened it, then closed it again.

Iyame smirked her infuriating smirk as she crept toward Maka, "Oh, Maka, Maka, Maka… First off, you should just close your mouth when you can't think of a good enough comeback because you look like a dead fish when you don't. Second off, stop denying it. You said it yourself last night when _you kissed him_. You're dating. And don't say that that was just a spur of the moment thing. You're spending more time with him now, yes? And you're going on another date with him tomorrow. You should just ask him if you aren't sure because you know it's true."

Iyame was leaning against the cart now, her amethyst eyes piercing into Maka's emerald ones. Maka knew she was right, as always. Iyame had a thing about being right. It was worse than Maka if one could imagine that. All Maka could do was nod as they made their way to the check out.

"So…," she began, "Where are Miku and Ryoku? No doubt they're stirring up trouble somewhere."

Iyame just shrugged in answer and replied, "I made them pinkie swear they wouldn't do anything too rash. They're with Liz and Patti. I mean, they haven't seen them in a year. It's hard to be away from those you love."

Maka nodded as she and Iyame loaded things onto the moving countertop. Pinkie swears may seem childish, but to Iyame, Miku, and Ryoku, they were law. She noticed how Iyame avoided her eye contact after that last part about being away from those she loved. That's when she remembered.

"How is Masamune?" inquired Maka.

Iyame glanced up at her, "He's fine actually. At times he still has fits, but they're nothing I can't handle. They're less and less frequent now and he is safe to be around now. It's just that I'm worried…. About him, you know. I'm scared that one day he'll snap again, and I won't be able to stop him this time."

Maka frowned at Iyame, "You're being stupid."

Iyame cocked her head to the side, eyebrows disappearing into her hair, "What?"

"You really think he'll try to kill himself again. Iyame, seriously? I mean, sure, it's painful to fight the madness inside him. I've had to fight it and so has Soul, but it's a lot easier now that Masamune has something worth fighting for. You."

Iyame looked at her with a pouty face, "You really think so?"

Maka nodded, "Ask him yourself, Know-It-All."

Iyame smirked, "You're right. I am quite irresistible anyways. I so good…"

"You're just as bad as Black*Star."

Iyame grinned as she helped Maka carry the bags towards Maka and Soul's apartment, "The only difference between Black*Star and I is that one of us has already surpassed the gods while the other is trying in vain to achieve."

Maka scoffed and Iyame giggled. They walked along until they reached the door to Maka the apartment the weapon and meister shared, "Hold on a sec while I get my key…"

Maka searched around in the semi-darkness in her purse for her keys. Iyame heard a jingle and then a clatter as they hit the ground. Maka muttered something under her breath which Iyame assumed was her version of a curse word (gosh darn or golly gee).

"Ugh, I can't see it in the dark," Maka said exasperatedly, "this sucks."

No sooner had she said that that the light had come on and the door opened to reveal a very nicely dressed Soul.

"Soul," Iyame said with a low whistle, "My, you are looking spiffy."

Soul self-consciously scratched his head, "Yeah… Um, let me just help you with those bags."

Iyame moved around him, "Nope," she told him as she turned when she entered the doorway, "I got this one. You help your lady friend."

Iyame disappeared into the house with a wink and Soul gave Maka a look as he grabbed the bags from her, "Lady Friend?"

"Shut up," said Maka as she shoved the packages in Soul's arms and grabbed her keys.

She couldn't help but giggle at Iyame's implication. Soul even let out a chuckle. Iyame was busying away putting supplies up, on the counter for the roast, or in Maka's carry bag to take tomorrow to her Grandmama's for the Thanksgiving dinner. Soul set the bags on the counter and help Iyame unpack them while Maka started on dinner.

With and extra set of hands, the groceries were put up quickly and the friends just talked for a few minutes. Iyame was perched on the counter and Soul was trying not to choke on his (alcoholic) beverage. Iyame was blushing as she took a swig of her identical drink to Soul's.

Maka giggled, "I've missed you, Iyame. We both have. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

At the mention of dinner, Iyame's eyes widened and she downed the last few sips of her Blueberry and Lemonade wine cooler, "Oh, dinner! Masamune is probably freaking out right now."

She hopped down from the counter top and gave Maka a hug and Soul a handshake, "See you guys around, yeah?"

Iyame was almost out the door when Soul called out, "Hey, Iyame!"

She turned to him, "Yeah?"

Soul pulled two wine coolers out of the fridge and tossed them to her which she caught easily, "Take those for you and Masamune. Relax a bit while the Twins are gone, okay?"

Iyame smiled, "Thanks, Sharkie."

Soul cringed at that nickname as Iyame bounded out of the door. Maka giggled and Soul turned on her, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing," Soul said as he moved closer to her.

Maka laughed and set the table, "Stop being silly. I'm finished cooking. Come eat."

Soul helped her set the table and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

Maka jumped, "What was that for?"

Soul grinned and helped himself to roast, "What? I can't kiss your cheek? I mean, technically we are dating now, right?"

Maka blushed slightly and nodded shyly with a smile, "Yeah… Yeah, I guess we are."

**So yeah, that's my chapter. Hope you liked it. In case you didn't know, Iyame, Miku, and Ryoku are the OC's in this fanfic. Masamune is a real character. He is Tsubaki's brother, you know, the one whose soul she absorbed, well there is a long story to that that will be explained in the other fanfic I mentioned of how he came back. Don't worry. It will make sense. ;) There is a plot to this after all.**


	7. A Car Ride and Grandmama Albarn

**Aggggh! I am so sorry! I have no excuse... Please read and enjoy..  
**

**Maka**

"Maka, why couldn't we have taken my bike? It would have been a whole lot faster, and car rides are boring!" an exasperated Soul said from the passenger seat.

Maka giggled, "Sorry, Soul. Didn't know I was such horrible company," she said in mock offense.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, I –" Soul jumped up from his slouched position and growl playfully when he realized he had been fooled.

Soul attacked, grabbing at her sides and poking her flat stomach in attempt to tickle her. Maka yelped and jerked the steering wheel which rewarded her a honk from the car in front of her as it slowed down to turn. There was a silence as they were once again on the road, and Soul knew he was in trouble.

"Soul…" began Maka in a deadly quiet voice. Soul cowered in fear.

All of a sudden, Maka's hand shot out and began tickling a very surprised Soul without taking her eyes off the road, "Don't. Distract. Me. While. I. Am. Driving."

Maka struggled to keep a straight face as Soul squirmed. Few people knew Soul was ticklish. Or that Soul wore glasses. Or had a British accent when he got upset. Maka was glad that she was someone he trusted enough to let her know those things. Even though she had found out that he had had the glasses and the accent when she went to ask Soul to help her find her favorite romance novel only to find him reading it and started talking in an accent when he tried to hide it, didn't matter.

Maka was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the small bump in the road coming up, and as the car hit it, her hand slipped down and – grope!

Maka slammed on the breaks and tried to find the words to apologize, but all she could do was stare at Soul while her face burnt a brighter red than ever before. She had just groped Soul!

Soul stared back, blushing. Though it wasn't as deep as Maka's blush, he was still so shocked he made no move to cover the slight bulge that had formed in his pants at Maka's touch. It was either that or he didn't notice. Boys!

After a few moments of silence aside from the purr of the car's engine on the side of the deserted country road, Soul surprised Maka by smirking, his blush lessening, "What's wrong, Maka? Cat got your tongue?"

"N-no," she stuttered, "D-don't know what you're t-talking about."

Maka turned her head, but Soul gently took her chin in his warm hand and turned her to face him. Maka slowly met his eyes. She was stunned by how he looked at her. His eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions; there were so many she couldn't tell which was which. She didn't miss his slight blush as he held her face close to his.

"I don't care, Maka," Soul said, "I get it. It shocked me, but I know it was an accident."

Maka looked at him with wide eyes, and he smirked and added, "I mean, it was bound to happen sooner or later anyways."

"Soul!" Maka exclaimed in slight anger and amusement at his accusation, "What is that supposed to mean?!"

Soul chuckled, "Well, seeing as how you can never keep your eyes off of me in the first place, I'm surprised it took this long."

Maka fumed, and she wished she had a book with her. Soul laughed out loud. "Just wait until we get home, Soul."

"Oh, I'm so scared," said Soul, sarcasm dripping from his voice as Maka began driving.

"You should be," she retorted.

Maka tried to hide her smile as Soul chuckled. _If only he knew…._

**Soul**

Soul looked down at his plate of food. Maka and he had gotten to her Grandmama's big country home an hour or two ago. He had been introduced to so many people; there was no way he was going to remember their names by the time this night was over. He had received wishes of luck, threats if he broke her heart, pats on the back, and _a lot_ of hugs. He knew where Maka got it now.

Maka's family was great people, but his favorite was Mrs. Albarn Sr., Maka's Grandmama. Although she insisted on him calling her 'Grandmama', he was having trouble with how quickly she accepted him. All of them did. It gave Soul a great feeling. It was one that was so alien to him because he was different. It made him happy. Now he was sitting at a table with a plate of food Maka had prepared for him. She had run off to speak with her Grandmama's good friend, Dr. Forein Sic. He was a professor who taught Maka all the things she knew about law and criminal justice.

He eyed and inspected the sugar cookie shaped like a leaf. _Please be soft and chewy,_ he prayed silently as he bit into it. _Yes,_ he thought happily. This _is a cookie._ He noted that he would have to thank Maka's Grandmama and ask for the recipe, so Maka could bake him some… And he could watch her bake as her hips swayed back and forth to her little tune she hummed whenever she cooked or baked. He couldn't help but smile a little before he caught himself.

_Whoa, Soul, that's totally uncool to think of your meister that way,_ he chided himself, but lately he'd been thinking about her lately. And having – somewhat inappropriate – fantasies about her.

Maybe Black*Star was right. He was getting whipped. He just didn't understand. How could he be whipped by a girl like Tiny Tits? A cool guy like him could easily get a girl like Wes's girl, Blair. Wes. He hadn't thought of his perfect brother for a while. Maybe being around Maka's family for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner made him miss his own. Hey, he might actually go to his family's Thanksgiving reunion this year. It had been so long. He could even take Maka to meet his family.

Soul face-palmed. There it was again. Cute ideas of him and Maka together. What was wrong with him? Was Soul seriously losing his cool? No. No, it was just that he hadn't seen his family in five years. They would want to know what he'd been up to, so they would want to see who had become his meister. They'd want to know if he'd been seeing anyone.

Once again, Maka's face crept into his mind, and he smirked. _Well, we _are_ dating…_ That still didn't mean they were in love. Sure, he couldn't stop thinking about her, but it would be bad to not think of your girlfriend a little throughout the day. _Girlfriend,_ Soul thought as he grinned and took another bite into his cookie and audibly moaned at the deliciousness.

"Enjoying that cookie, are you?"

Soul jumped as he heard the voice behind him. It was Maka's Grandmama.

She chuckled, "I could give you the recipe if you like, but Maka-tan says you aren't much of a baker. You should ask her to teach you."

A blush crept onto Soul's face, and he scoffed, "A cool guy like me, bake? Why would I want to do that?"

"Because it gives you an excuse to be close to her," Grandmama Albarn said without missing a beat.

Soul started and looked at her with wide eyes, _How did she know?_

"I have seen you watching her, Soul-chan. It is obvious you feel greatly for her. You probably love her. In fact, I know you do. You just have yet to admit it to yourself because you have been hurt before. I can tell you, that all my Maka-tan has known is hurt. My son is reckless, and Kami was a child on her own and ran off and left her. If anyone would understand, it would be Maka. You just have to let her in here."

Grandmama pointed to his heart, and he croaked out, "How -?"

Grandmama smiled and Soul saw a familiar glint in her eyes: one he had seen in his father's many times, "Where do you think Spirit gets his demon side from? His father was much too kind."

"You, you're a Reader, aren't you? You can see into the future like m-my dad?" Soul asked her.

Grandmama held a finger to her lips and spoke with a wink, "Spoilers. Take care of my Maka, now, Soul. Don't break her heart because you know she loves you."

Grandmama stood and walked away with a mischievous grin on her face, but Soul could only think one thing:

_She loves me?_

* * *

**I know there was a bit of.. er.. a little more big kid stuff there in the beginning in the car, but I couldn't help it. It was BEGGING to happen. But it isn't like it's _that_ inappropriate anyways. But I did add a few twists in there heh heh... I know! All questions will eventually be answered, but for now, feel free to read this and stare at the computer screaming 'WHY?!' and waking your parents and dog and being like Da Fu..!? as I leave you once again with a cliffhanger. MWAHAHAHAHA!**_  
_


	8. Homeward

**Soul**

On the car ride home, Maka was exhausted. Soul insisted she sleep. He would drive while she did so. He eventually had to pick her up and buckle her into the passenger seat to get her to stop arguing. Ten minutes down the road, she was knocked out. Soul couldn't help but sneak glances at her. _Death, she looks so adorable when she sleeps or is embarrassed._

He had been driving for almost an hour with about an hour and a half to go. To keep himself from being too bored, he used his time to think. He thought of Maka as well as what Grandmama Albarn had said… But mostly he was thinking of what had happened on the car ride there…

Soul's face flushed as he recalled it. He couldn't deny that he liked it, probably more than he should. He was surprised at how he had kept his cool though Maka probably saw right through him. He had also seen through her. She had liked it, too. Soul snuck another glance at Maka to find she was staring at him. She gave him a sleepy smile that sent shivers down his spine, but it was in a good way.

Caught.

"Good nap, sleepy head?" asked a somewhat amused Soul.

Maka nodded and leaned over to quickly brush her soft lips against his, "Thanks for coming today, Soul. It means a lot."

Soul cleared his throat. He hadn't been expecting the sudden sign of affection, "You – you shouldn't distract me while I'm driving."

"Oh, good one, Soul. I just can't keep up," Maka told him as she rolled her eyes, "So did you have a good time?"

Soul gave her his signature mischievous half-smile and nodded as he slowly took her small hand in his. _It's so soft…_ He answered her, "That I did. Grandmama Albarn came to talk to me after you left me all alone. We had quite an interesting conversation."

Maka's eyes widened, "I'm so sorry. Grandmama says things that are sometimes tactless or embarrassing. I'm sorry if –" Soul held up a hand to Maka and looked at her, "It's alright, Maka. Grandmama is cool. We were just talking. It wasn't about anything uncomfortable."

Maka's expression relaxed and she grinned, "Good. You called her Grandmama."

Soul became interested in the road once more, "Yeah. So? She insisted."

Maka's grin grew and she intertwined her fingers with Soul's as he caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, "It just makes me happy. So what did you to talk about? That is, if you don't mind me asking."

Soul shrugged and continued to watch the road, "She gave me the recipe to those amazing sugar cookies she made. She said that you told her I wasn't much of baker, so I should ask you to teach me. And I was hoping… you could?"

Soul looked hopefully at Maka who blushed slightly though it was too dark for Soul to see. Maka was thankful for the shadows of the night that shielded her face, "Challenge accepted. Anything else?"

Soul hesitated, "She said I needed to open up because she could tell I'd been hurt before and I'm scared. If anyone could understand, it would be you…. Have you been hurt, Maka?"

Soul pulled into the driveway, and lifted Maka's chin oh so gently. She gazed into his crimson eyes. He could see the pain and insecurities in her eyes, but he could also see something else. He could see her want to trust him.

Soul stepped out of the car, picked Maka up bridal style, carried her into the apartment, and laid her on the couch. He put his face close to hers, "You can trust me, Maka."

Maka stayed silent for a moment, "I would rather not talk about it just yet, Soul. It would ruin how good our day has been. For the record I can say that yes, I have been hurt. Many times."

Soul exhaled sharply and nodded, "I won't push you to tell me yet."

Maka looked up at him thankfully and continued her interrogation of how his day went, "What else did Grandmama say? I can tell you're holding something back."

Soul hesitated and looked at the ceiling, "Well about opening up – she said I needed to do it soon because, well…"

"Because what?" Maka asked cautiously. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it was going to leap out of her chest as she anticipated Soul's answer.

Soul lowered his gaze to face her and look her in the eyes, "Do – do you love me, Maka?"

* * *

**Well, it is short, and there is another cliffhanger, and I am evil for it, but what else is new? I am sick with a stupid sinus infection and it would be a bit longer meaning at least a thousand words, but NyQuil sucks, so good night and I hope you enjoyed it. btw this means extra long super cute chappy within the next to days. LOVE YOU MY READERS AND ESPECIALLY MY REVIEWERS! **


	9. Do You Love Me?

**Here. I kept my promise. Enjoy, minions.**

"Do – do you love me, Maka?"

Maka could only stare at Soul, her eyes wide. He looked nervous and was shyly looking down at his thumbs which he was twiddling as he blushed. Wow. That was something Soul _never_ did. Was she the cause of it? If she was and she was making Soul nervous, that was saying something. _Holy shit, did Soul love her back?_

"Holy shit."

Soul visibly started and looked at her, "W-what?"

Maka subconsciously leaned forward, causing Soul to lean back against the opposite arm of the sofa. She was now basically on top of him with arms and knees on either side, but she didn't notice. She was too busy staring into his suddenly readable and unguarded eyes.

"M-Maka," Soul stuttered, "W-what are you d-doing?"

Maka furrowed her brow. She seemed to snap out her trance – somewhat – and answered him, "You love me, don't you?"

Maka sat on Soul's lap and her hands went to his face. She gently brushed his cheek. Soul's breathing somewhat slowed and his tensed body relaxed. A little. He smiled nervously and brought his had up to envelop the one of hers that was resting upon his cheek, "Kinda. At least, I think I do. I've never been in love. Not like this."

Maka leaned closer once again. Their faces were close; it was just close enough to be distracting but far away enough to provide distance, "And what does this feel like?"

Soul gulped. Maka was really close to him now. Her scent was intoxicating. It was hard to breathe when she was this close. It was the closest she had ever been to him. This was _Maka_ of all people. And he was addicted to her. She was his morphine. His drug. And he wanted more.

Soul looked in her eyes then let his eyes wander down to her lips, "It feels amazing… and Maka?"

"Hmm?"

Soul glanced quickly from her eyes to her lips again before he whispered, "Don't let it end."

Soul took Maka's face in his hands and gently brought her lips to his. It sent electricity through his body and it filled him with a wonderful new sensation. Maka moaned softly into his mouth and that drove him crazy. He deepened the kiss and ran his fingers through Maka's citrus scented hair. He wanted her. All of her. But he knew he would have to take it slow. This… this was amazing.

Maka's hands were on Soul. One hand was running through his thick, white hair while the other was fisted in his shirt like she couldn't get enough of him. This was so much better than their first kiss. It was mostly because Soul had started it this time. He loved her. _Death, he __**loved**__ her._ It was more than Maka had ever dreamed. All of her live she didn't know what love was. Not love like this. So many people had taken advantage of her and left her crying and broken, so she began to close herself off to everyone, especially men.

Then Maka met Soul. He taught her to trust. He had trust issues himself, but he put himself out there when Maka became his meister. Together they had made him the most powerful DeathScythe there is and defeated Asura and Arachne. They had been to hell and back together (quite literally). Maka knew it would cause them to grow closer, but she never imagined this. They had fallen in love. It was just like Liz and Grandmama had said.

In the midst of her realization, Maka had unconsciously begun to cry. When she noticed the hot tears rolling uncontrollably from her eyes, she pulled away. Soul was immediately concerned, "What's wrong?"

Maka shook her head. She was at first unable to form words, but then her voice found her, "Nothing… it's just I never dreamed…"

Soul understood and nodded as he gently lifted her face and kissed the tears away, "I'm never going to hurt you, Maka. I love you, and I promise that from this day forward, I am yours. I will do as you ask – most the time – and treat you like the Queen you are. If I ever get out of line, just let me know, and I will fix it right away. I want you to know that I give you my heart. No one else will ever understand me like you can, and I would go to the ends of the Earth and Hell to prove it to you. I love you with all my being, and I would die for you."

Maka teared up again but held it in. She met Soul's eyes, "I know. You taught me how to trust, Soul. I couldn't ask for anyone better to have stolen my heart. I love you, too."

Soul smiled his genuine smile and kissed her softly once more, "You have no idea how amazing it feels to finally know that."

Maka smirked, "Oh, I think I could take a guess."

Soul kissed her again, a bit more passionately and ran his tongue over her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, her tongue battling with his. He tasted so good. It was like his scent of cinnamon and Soul-ness combined. It was sensational. Maka drank it in.

Soul pulled back slightly to suck her bottom lip into his mouth and slightly nip at it with his sharp tooth. This was rewarded by a small moan from Maka, and she pulled away for a moment, "Watch it there, Shark Tooth."

Soul chuckled as he yawned and his stomach grumbled, "I guess I'm hungry."

Maka laughed when Soul yawned again, "And a bit sleepy."

Soul growled playfully and quickly caught her lips with his before she retreated down the hallway. She came back wearing shorts and a big sweater threw a pair of pajama pants to Soul. He put them on while she grabbed some Doritos and some Root Beer. When she came back, Soul was pulling his shirt over his head.

Maka bit her lip as she watched him. His hip muscles flexed as he pulled the shirt off, and she might have sighed out loud. Unfortunately, this gave away her position and the fact she was staring and biting her lip. She blushed and Soul laughed as she made her way over to him. He wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her closer. Maka marveled at the feel of his bare skin against her back. It was so… natural.

Maka leaned back into him and munched on her Doritos as Soul stole one. She smacked his hand, "Don't touch my Doritos, Shark Tooth."

"Don't make me make you be nice, Tiny Tits," Soul scoffed.

Maka leaned her head back to glance up and him, a look of defiance and mischievousness in her eyes, "Is that a challenge?"

Soul mimicked her glare, "You bet."

Maka smiled an infuriating smirk, "Prove it. I dare you."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed. I cannot end this story yet, so I hope you are happy. And this cannot be good for my health staying up an hour after I am supposed to be in bed when I'm sick. I was tired at 8 dudes. Who does that? I mean, seriously? I'm only a teenager. That's like the time old people go to sleep. (Actually they mostly go to bed around 4-6 but thats not the point) The point is: ... I don't really remember what point I was trying to make, but I FEEL SO OLD! I have no control over my stupid sick body and when it wants to go to sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open and I'm screaming thoughts at my brain like, 'Don't make me go to sleep yet!' Yeah, it isn't listening. Stupid brain. Well, I am going to stop ranting now, and - sadly- give in to my brain and sleep.**

**Review and tell me what you think!?  
**


	10. Teaching a Lesson and Getting Caught

**Omg 31 reviews ALREADY! You have absolutely no idea how happy that makes me. I'll check my email on my phone and see that I have another review or follow or favorite and it makes my day a thousand times better!  
**

**No seriously.  
**

**It's the most reviews I have ever gotten! Although, it is also the only story that I have updated...er.. somewhat regularly. I also have a few ideas for some Maka and Soul one-shots. Maybe I'll make another story or something. So HUGS TO EVERYONE WHO READ, FOLLOWED, FAVORITED, AND/OR REVIEWED.  
**

**You guys are awesome.  
**

**Okay so here is the next chappie, sorry it took so long, and I am beginning to think that I apologize too much because I can never seem to update on time. anyways, I decided to put a little update to what's going on with Iyame because I'm sure you all are very curious about her. I mentioned her and then she disappeared. of course, the main thing everyone is concerned with is Maka and Soul, but there's always gonna be that one little part of you that can't help but wonder about the mystery girl, Iyame. So therefore I have fulfilled your wishes that you didn't even know about yourself! I'm just that good.  
**

**So enough with my rant. Here is the story! :)  
**

**Iyame**

Iyame quickly unlocked the door to her home. It was just how she remembered it. There was nothing out of place. She couldn't wait to find her favorite chair in the far corner of her library which took up the third floor of their house. But first…

"I was wondering where you had run off to," a somewhat deep voice called, pulling her back to present time, "I was beginning to think someone had kidnapped you or something."

Iyame chuckled and shook her head as she looked him over. Masamune's long dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a few locks in the front framing his face. He wore a white long sleeve shirt that was loose but still showed of his muscles and dark jeans. Iyame smiled back at him, and kicked off her shoes.

"I ran into Miku and Ryoku. They're staying with Liz and Patti tonight, unsupervised, I might add. Lord Death and his wife's anniversary is tonight, so they left early this morning to go on a little romantic get-away. Kidd and Crona are at the mansion as well, but they might be a little too distracted to watch them."

Masamune smirked and pulled her closer, "I don't think you need to worry, Iyame. The Twins will probably be too _distracted_ to do anything remarkably dangerous or idiotic."

Iyame snorted at his words and blushed when he kissed her cheek, "Meaning," he teased, "that we will have the entire house to ourselves."

Iyame blushed, a little deeper this time. She hated how he was the only one who could make her do that. It drove her crazy, "Would you like me to grab those wine coolers Maka and Soul so generously gave us?"

Masamune shrugged as he followed her to the kitchen, "That… and there is some red wine in there that I bought today. I also have a surprise for you."

The girl's head shot up, "A surprise. For me? I'm not too fond of surprises unless I know what I'm getting."

Masamune chuckled, "Then it isn't a surprise, wise one."

Iyame gave him a Look, earning another chuckle from her boyfriend. He took her hand in his large one, making her feel dainty as she followed him to her library. He led her to the empty alcove. At least, it used to be empty.

"You always told me that you left it empty because you never had anything grand enough to put in such a distinct spot. I have been working on this for almost a year now, keeping it together as we moved around. I wanted to do something special for you since you saved me," Masamune grinned at her expression.

Iyame stared in awe. There, in the alcove was an ornate bookshelf of white and gold holding the collective works of all her favorite authors: William Shakespeare, Terry Brooks, Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Orson Scott Card. In a case off to the side was _Dracula_: First Edition.

Iyame's eyes watered, "You – you did this for me?" She gasped as she saw the first edition label on _Dracula_, "F-first edition…"

Masamune turned her to the bookshelf, "They all are."

She attacked him in a flying hug, tears of joy streaming down her face, "This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Masamune looked into her beautiful, violet eyes, "Anything for you, Enchanted One."

**Soul**

Soul smirked and gave Maka a Look, "Are you sure you know what you're asking for, Maka?"

Maka sat up, so she could look him straight in the face, "Don't tell me you're chicken, Soul. C'mon. Teach me a lesson. _Make me_ be good."

Soul was shocked by the innuendo of Maka's words. He growled and lunged for her. The skilled meister nimbly dodged. Maka stared at him teasingly. Her eyes danced, sparkling with a look so intense, it sent chills down his spine.

Soul lunged again and managed to wrap an arm around her waist as she tried to side-step. He pulled her closer to him. Her cool body was pressed against his body which felt as though he were burning up. He hadn't meant to bring her this close, but she felt so good against his bare chest.

Maka noticed his momentary hesitation and took advantage of the moment to trace her cold, little finger down his scar from his shoulder to his hip, not bothering to stop when the pajama pants blocked her finger's trail. She simply pushed them down a centimeter or two until his scar ended. She looked at him with fire in her eyes as she did this, and Soul blushed and shivered from the feel of it.

Maka laughed lightly, "Do I make you nervous, Soul?"

Soul grabbed at Maka's hand, but she slipped from his grip. She ran behind the couch, and Soul grabbed her arm, but he slipped and fell backwards, pulling Maka with him. Maka looked at him, breathless. She smirked at his blush. Maka was hovering over him, her legs on either side of him, her hands pinning his arms against the floor.

"Pinned ya," Maka teased. As Soul tried to seize her, she jumped away and ran into the kitchen. Soul smiled. He had her cornered.

Soul quickly marched towards the kitchen, his long strides covering the ground swiftly. As he entered the kitchen, all was dark and deadly quiet. He stood in the doorway as his eyes adjusted. Maka was nowhere to be found.

A puzzled Soul numbly looked around the poorly-lit kitchen. _Where did she go?_ Soul almost gave up when he heard a noise in the corner by the broom closet. Soul pretended to go the other direction but turned to snatch the shadow figure of a person whom had tried to slip past him.

The shadow person let out a yelp which was rewarded with a snicker from Soul. He pushed her against the counter and flipped on the light.

Maka's face was flushed, and she was panting. Soul's hips were pressed against hers, pinning her in place. There was no escape.

Soul smirked, "Now that I have you, what should I do?"

Maka whimpered softly at the huskiness of his voice; she was still too out of breath to speak, "Okay," said Soul slowly, "Just let me know if I do something you don't like."

Before Maka knew it, he caught her mouth with his once more.

**Maka**

There was something different about this kiss.

The previous kisses were passionate but slightly chaste because of their hesitance towards each other. This time, Soul didn't hold back. Maka could feel his body against hers, the warmth drawing her in. His lips were warm and firm against hers and he gently added pressure and tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

He runs his tongue along her bottom lip and Maka slightly opens her mouth. Soul kissed her as their tongues danced eagerly. Just when Maka began to think it was too much, Soul pulls back a little to softly suck on her bottom lip. Maka sighed audibly and this seemed to drive Soul crazy. Maka's mind was spinning, but she could conclude one thing about this: Soul was not playing anymore.

Thoughts flew through her mind. She didn't want this to go too far, but it was so distracting when Soul kissed her like that. Soul definitely knew how to work his mouth. And his tongue. _My Death, that bubblegum tongue._

Maka wound her fingers through his hair, teasing the baby hairs on the back of his neck and deepening the kiss. She briefly felt herself being lifted off the ground and noticed she had been set on the counter with Soul now positioned between her legs. She didn't have time to dwell on this thought because Soul then began a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck. He kissed her neck back up to her jaw, and attacked her mouth again.

Soul continued to explore her mouth with his tongue until Maka squirmed a little beneath him. Maka tugged playfully at his hair to receive a groan from Soul as he pressed himself against her harder, pulling her head even closer to his. Maka could feel her face flush as the action sent electricity through her body. She grazed her teeth against his lower lip, and he gasps, his hands dropping to her lower back. Soul ran his hand up and down her back, pulling her shirt up the slightest bit and causing her to arch her back, pressing herself into him.

"Well, well, well, what _do_ we have here?" a familiar voice asked from behind them.

Maka and Soul jumped apart. Soul stepped back and Maka slid off the counter, fixing her disheveled clothes. Her face flushed bright red as her weapon and she turned to face her friends.

Kidd had spoken, but Liz, Miku, Patti, Ryoku, Crona, Black*Star, and Tsubaki were all standing with him. Liz, Patti, Miku, and Ryoku all had similar mischievous expressions written across their faces. Crona was blushing. Kidd had a smug expression. Black*Star was surprisingly and for once, at a loss for words with his mouth agape, and Tsubaki shyly explained while holding up a few movies.

"It was you're turn to host movie night. But Masamune and Iyame couldn't make it. Um, sorry if we… interrupted something."

At this she broke into a giggle, and it turned into a chain of laughter from the other meisters and weapons.

Soul blushed as crimson as his eyes, and Maka face-palmed. This was gonna be a _long _night.


	11. Never Have I Ever

**I apologize sincerely for the delay, but with Christmas and my sister's surgery, I have been distracted of late. This is quite a long chapter. 6 pages long on Microsoft word, so be happy. It's also the longest chappie I have ever written, I do believe. And instead of doing my lit homework, I did this, so you better love me. Hope you had a great Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year! But I'll try to update before New Years.**

Soul was caught up in how good Maka felt and tasted as they shared a heated make-out session on their kitchen counter. The kitchen counter! Maka's mind was frantic, but she could only focus on Soul. She kissed him back with fervor as she melted into him. Oh, he could get used to this.

Maka was not sure how far she could let this go, but if it felt this good, then damn, let it be. She made no objection as Soul's hands traveled down her back. One of his hands left her back to run up and down the outside of her hip and thigh, pushing her shorts up and exposing more and more of her creamy legs.

Maka was lost in her thoughts of Soul. She smiled against his lips as she was overcome by thoughts of her fantasies with him. She was just thinking – _it couldn't get any better than this_ – when she was interrupted abruptly by a voice she knew all too well. It was a voice that wasn't Soul's.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a familiar voice asked from behind them.

In a flash, Soul was shoved away from her body, and Maka was off the counter and fixing her disheveled attire while blushing just as furiously as her partner. It was a blush that could make Soul's eyes envious. Soul could only numbly listen as Tsubaki explained. How could he have forgotten about movie night with their friends!?

Tsubaki giggled and the rest of their friends erupted into laughter. Soul felt his face heat up once more as he saw Maka face-palm out of the corner of his eye. Soul stuttered as he tried to explain, "I-I…um…we were just –,"

Liz held up a freshly manicured hand, "Save it, Sythie-Boy. We could see exactly what was going on for ourselves."

Soul cringed at the nickname that sent shudders down his spine. "And we can only wonder what it could have escalated into if we hadn't interrupted," added Ryoku as Liz gave him a wink, "We could leave if you like?"

The comment resulted in another fit of laughter as Patti began a song of: "Maka and Soul, sitting in a tree, _F-U-C-K-I-N-G_ ~!" Miku shushed his girlfriend by covering her mouth, but couldn't help but smirk mischievously at the suggestion.

The supposed "_friends_" continued to poke fun until they were silenced by none other than Maka, "Alright, alright! So Soul and I were in the middle of a heated make-out session on the kitchen counter. Yes, _on the kitchen counter_. You've had your fun, but need I remind you that you all knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and if you want to make fun of someone because of their sex life, I know _all_ of your secrets. I'm not afraid to spill the beans. Just try me."

"Since when do you and Soul have a sex life, Maka? This is a quaint piece of information, don't you think?" Kidd teased, completely disregarding Maka's earlier warning. Black*Star cat called as Tsubaki and Crona blushed thinking, _Idiots_.

Maka flushed as she looked Kidd square in the face, "I guess you wouldn't mind me telling everyone that when you and Crona took a break and 'went to get ice' at the pool because Crona had apparently had a cramp that you and her just went to the far end of the bath house and you screwed her as you made her believe that everyone was watching. Which…only turned both of you on all the more."

Kidd's smug grin fell as Maka smirked victoriously. Kidd, flabbergasted, turned to Crona who was blushing furiously. Crona could only shake her head as she was unable to deny telling Maka about her and Kidd's little side show while she covered her face with her hands out of shame, "I-I don't know h-how to deal with this."

Black*Star snorted, reminding me that he had still challenged me. Maka walked over to him and crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one leg. Star didn't back down, but Tsubaki shrank back in fear as she pleaded with Maka with her eyes. Maka shook my head at her as she faced her new victim. All the girls already knew, she was just enlightening the rest of the crowd. _I am on a roll, baby._

"Oh, and you, Black*Star," Maka began, "Perhaps you would like everybody to know that you normally end up on bottom and succumb to Tsubaki's will. You enjoy being chained up and feeling like you have no control as you watch her entice you. The poor little god who likes to be dominated…"

Black*Star faltered, his arms crossed about his chest as he turned almost robotically to Tsubaki and gave her a look that told her she was in deep trouble. Maka giggled as she broke the awkward silence, "Since we're all getting to know each other so well, Soul, get out the shot glasses. We're gonna have a nice little game of _Never Have I Ever_."

**Soul**

Soul couldn't believe how hot his meister was when she was telling those stories. The fiery look in her eyes let him know that she enjoyed telling those stories. He also caught the slight envy in her voice as she recalled those encounters of her friends' to the rest of the group. It was almost as if she wished those things had happened with her and Soul.

Soul felt himself get slightly aroused at that idea, but shook the thoughts out of his mind as Maka turned to face him. She grinned up at him as she turned to get the drinks. Soul watched her as she bent over to retrieve the alcohol from the wine cooler. The urge overcame him, and he reached out to give her firm butt a nice _smack_. Maka yelped as she turned and glared at him. Soul held his hands up in mock defeat as he surrendered. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the drinks from the cooler. Soul quickly snatched up the glassed and grabbed Maka as she was leaving the kitchen, proceeding to wrap his arms around her slim waist as he pulled her backside against him.

Soul licked the shell of Maka's ear, "Maybe we should try some of those things some time."

Soul smirked and felt Maka shudder underneath his grasp. He loved embarrassing her, but then she turned around and did something completely unexpected. Maka pressed her body against Soul's and pinned him against the refrigerator, her face barely inches from his as he looked at her with wide eyes, "Maybe. If you promise to call me '_Master'._"

Maka kissed him which Soul quickly returned, but after she pulled away, he stood there in bewilderment wondering what the hell had he done to his once timid and shy meister. _It must just be the adrenaline rush._ With that thought in mind, Soul followed his meister out the door.

~a moment later~

Everyone circled around the coffee table as Soul did the honors of pouring the shots. The faces were a mixture of excitement, curiosity, smugness, and in a few cases, nervousness.

Soul placed the bottle in the center of the table and took his place next to Maka and Black*Star. Maka spoke, "Alright, Tsubaki, you begin."

As soon as Maka had said that, Tsubaki gave her a smirk, "Never have I ever read a romance or smutty novel and imagined myself and my partner as the main characters."

Maka scowled at her as she lifted her shot to her lips. Miku and Ryoku quickly followed, and then Soul shyly downed his shot with a blush. "Romance or smutty?" Maka whispered teasingly.

"Shut up," Soul retorted, "Black*Star, it's your turn."

"NEVER HAVE I EVER –"

"Black*Star, inside voice," scolded Tsubaki.

"Right. Never have I ever worn glasses."

Maka watched as Liz and a grumbling Soul picked up their glasses. Maka stared at him. "Reading glasses."

"Okay. Kidd, it's your turn," said Black*Star.

"Never have I ever made out nor had sex on a kitchen counter."

Soul, Maka, Ryoku, and Liz all drained their cups.

Soul was not liking this, and he knew that Kidd was doing it on purpose. So far, he'd had to take a shot every time. He was gonna get Kidd back, "Never have I ever had sex in a public place."

"Finally," said Patti as she and Miku lifted their glasses, along with Kidd, Crona, Black*Star, and Tsubaki.

Soul snorted as he turned to Maka. "Never have I ever had sex," she said.

Everyone except Maka and Soul groaned and drank; Soul remained with his eyes locked on Maka's.

"Hey, Soul," said Liz, "If you've had sex, you have to drink."

Soul didn't move his gaze from Maka's as he spoke, "I'm a virgin."

"WHAT!?" everyone exclaimed in unison.

Soul turned to them, finally breaking his gaze from Maka, "Is it really that hard to believe? No matter how much I want to deny it, I've always been wrapped around one girl's finger. The only person who has ever understood me…"

Maka felt a blush creep onto her face as she looked away. She cleared her throat, "Patti."

Patti giggled as she took a deep breath and answered quickly, "Never have I ever had dance parties by myself in only my underwear," before taking a drink.

Miku, Ryoku, and Soul all took drinks, too as Crona scolded Patti quietly, "Um… Patti, I think the objective of the game is to u-use things you haven't done."

"Oh. Oopsie."

"My turn," announced Miku. "Never have I ever had an unhealthy obsession with symmetry."

Ryoku snorted and Kidd sent them death glares with a promise to make them drink on his next turn before downing his shot.

"Never have I ever…fantasized nor actually had sex on a piano."

Tsubaki and Black*Star flushed before taking their drinks, and Maka followed suit. Liz also took a swig.

"Never have I ever," said Liz with a wicked grin, "had a wet dream about my partner and woken up with a boner, being aroused as in wet, or my underwear stuck to me because I came in my sleep."

Ryoku shot daggers at her with his eyes, "You did that on purpose."

Liz shrugged as she watched her boyfriend, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kidd, Crona, Soul, and to Soul's surprise, Maka, take drinks.

"Never have I ever fantasized about sex with a weapon in their weapon form," Tsubaki stated.

Black*Star glared as he drank.

As the friends grew more and more drunk, the questions became increasingly perverted. Maka rolled her eyes to some of them, but in the end she ended up getting pretty wasted herself. Most of them were from the more innocent questions relating to books. Soul was drunk, but could still think straight by the end of it.

Countless shots later, everyone was passed out. Maka woke and scanned the room. She was in Soul's arms on the couch which she had no objections to. Liz, Patti, Miku, and Ryoku were sprawled out on the floor. Kidd and Crona were curled up together in the recliner, and Black*Star and Tsubaki had stumbled into the guest bedroom hours earlier before passing out.

Maka started when she felt Soul move beneath her. She let out a yelp and jumped. Her movement was answered by a slight groan from her weapon, "Geez, Maka! Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry," whispered Maka as she carefully rotated so she was lying on top of his chest, facing him.

Soul gave her a sleepy smile, "You couldn't sleep either."

Maka shook her head in answer, "My dream woke me up."

"And that was?" pried Soul.

Soul smirked as he got a blush from Maka as his answer, "Dreaming about me?"

Maka nudged him, "Shut up."

"Come on, I'm just teasing," he said, pecking her cheek.

Maka smiled and rolled off of him. Soul sat up and watched her as she stretched and her shirt came up just a little. Maka noticed him watching her and teased, "Like what you see there, Soul?"

"Maybe," he answered as he stood up, "Let's get these kids in bed, so we can go to bed, too. You'll have to sleep with me tonight, if you're okay with that."

Maka rolled her eyes at his smirk. Soul carried the Twins and the Thompson sisters to Maka's room and laid them on her Queen-sized bed. It should be enough room for them all to sleep comfortably. He walked into the living room to see that Maka had already pulled the couch out into a bed and placed Crona and Kidd, as well as some pillows on it and was currently laying a blanket over them.

Soul raised his eyebrow, "It amazes me how strong you are. Kidd weighs a ton."

Maka laughed lightly and took his hand in hers as she pulled him down the hallway and into Soul's room.

Soul let her pull him and raised an eyebrow once more as she sat on the bed and proceeded to lie back, pulling him on top of her. "Maka? What are you doing?"

Maka shushed him as she kissed him softly, a kiss he eagerly returned. Maka slowly began to kiss him more passionately. Soul tilted his head to deepen the kiss and ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Maka allowed him entrance, and their tongues battled feverishly. Maka reached up to run her fingers through is thick hair. Soul growled softly as she tugged at his white locks.

Soul pulled away slightly to kiss her jaw and neck. Maka moaned softly before attacking his lips once more. Soul pulled back to softly suck her bottom lip into his mouth. Maka sighed in pleasure before running her hands along his chest.

Soul kissed her hotly before trailing hot, open-mouthed kissed down her neck. Maka couldn't think straight again. She didn't try to think as her brain went haywire from Soul's ministrations on her neck. Maka only knew she wanted Soul, and she was going to have him.

Maka wrapped her leg around Soul's waist and kissed him as her hands slid up under his shirt, feeling his toned muscles flex beneath her fingers. Soul grabbed her thigh and pulled it higher, bringing her closer. Maka's mind went back to the other day when he walked out of his room in those low-riding pajama pants that showed off his hip muscles. Maka nibbled on Soul's bottom lip, causing him to hiss in pleasure as she pulled away to catch her breath.

Soul stared at the girl underneath him. Maka was out of breath. Her face was flushed and her lips slightly parted as she panted. Soul wondered for a moment if that was what she looked like when –.

_No, bad Soul. Dirty thoughts, dirty thoughts. Not cool, so not cool._

Soul's eyes went wide as he felt his pants grow slightly uncomfortable. He flew away from Maka, turning so she couldn't see his facial expression or…other regions. Maka was thoroughly confused, "Soul? Soul."

Maka crawled toward him on her hands and knees as she continued to call his name to see what was wrong. Soul was trying to concentrate on calming little Soul down. He was trying to think of anything, but dirty thoughts of his meister. He heard her calling his name and vaguely wondered if that is what she would sound like during –

_Agh! No, why do I keep thinking this. Think of puppies. Sick puppies. Go away little Soul!_

Maka didn't understand Soul's behavior. Finally she got off the bed and walked to the end of Soul's bed so she could see his face. Soul seemed to be hyperventilating in a way. His face was flushed and he was looking down. She followed his eyes.

Oh.

_Oh._

Maka smirked, a plan already forming in her devious mind.


	12. Different Side of Maka

**Hi guys! It's me again. I was super happy about all the sudden reviews, favorites and follows, so I decided to update again. Feel proud. And some people wanted a smexy scene; though others thought it was a bit too much. I am thinking about changing the rating to M eventually because some of my make out scenes get a bit graphic… so yeah.**

**Also Crona is a girl in the manga for those who didn't know. And she is addressed by all in the anime: he, she, and it. It never really clarifies, and I like Crona as a girl because she is perfectly symmetrical and a good counter-balance for Kidd. Though I have read stories with both (either boy or girl) and like them so yeah. Yay for Crona's gender confusedness! My cat is gender confused…**

**Anywayzas…**

**Enjoy your chappie!**

Soul blushed deeply as he realized his meister was staring at him. He looked at her with wide eyes. Soul wanted nothing more than to cover himself, to move his hands to block her view, but he could only stare back at his meister as she looked at him with almost hungry eyes.

_What was going on with her?_

"Soul," Maka said as she sat beside him on the bed, "What exactly were you thinking about?"

Soul didn't reply. He couldn't. All he could do was blush and watch her with wide eyes. "Soul," she dragged his name out, "Please tell me?"

Maka leaned over slightly and pressed her lips to Soul's neck where his pulse was. She smiled at his yelp when she sucked softly on the sensitive skin. Soul squirmed underneath her, "M-Maka! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

Maka gave him a smirk. Soul knew that smirk all too well. It was one he wore often. Soul mentally smite himself for teaching her that. She giggled at Soul's reddening expression, "I just want you to answer the question, Soul."

Maka had said it in a sickly sweet voice that sent shivers down his spine. She leaned over and nibbled his ear and whispered, "Tell me, Soul. What has gotten you so…_excited_?"

Soul jumped and moved to cover himself with his shirt, but Maka stopped him and pulled his shirt off of him. Soul tried to run, but Maka blocked him as he stood to run for the bathroom door. In one swift movement, Maka tripped him, causing him to fall back onto the bed, and before he could move, she climbed over him, holding him down and pinning his arms by his head.

"I'm getting tired of asking, Soul," Maka teased dangerously.

Soul tried to avoid her gaze, his face heating up once more, "I-I don't know w-what you me – Ahh!"

Soul yelped as Maka ground her hips into his, "F-fine!"

He breathed out the reply, his face as red as a cherry tomato. Maka leaned over him, "What was that?"

Soul gasped, still trying to catch his breath, "Fine. I'll tell you! J-Just stop doing that?"

"Doing what? This?" She laughed at his yelp when she ground her hips once more, "Do you not like it, Scythey-boy?"

Soul cringed at the nickname, "N-no, I mean I do, but please, please just… j-just stop."

Maka smiled but didn't move, "I'm staying here just in case you change your mind and try to run."

Soul nodded as she released his arms and laid on his stomach, looking up at him. He let out a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his thick, white locks. Thoughts were running through his head. He was so confused, yet he liked this new side of his meister, "I was um… thinking about what you would look like and sound like um… you know…"

Maka raised an eyebrow in answer. Ugh, she didn't get it. Curse her and her – somewhat – innocent mind.

Soul exhaled again, "I was thinking about what you would look and sound like during sex, Maka. It's really not that hard to guess."

Maka grinned mischievously, "Thanks. That's all I wanted to know."

Maka rolled off of him to lie beside him. He glanced at her face. She wore a cute little grin and she was blushing slightly. Soul sat up to look at her, propping himself up on his elbows, "Is that it? Are you done torturing me now?"

Maka closed her eyes and stretched out on the bed, the smile never leaving her face, "Yepp," she said, popping the 'p' in the word 'Yepp'.

Soul stared at her in disbelief, "Are you serious right now?"

Maka giggled and rolled off of the bed, walking toward Soul's dresser. She didn't reply, but Soul watched her as she pulled out his drawer where he kept his pants, rifled through them for a moment, then pulled out one of Soul's favorite shirts. His eyes didn't leave her as she stripped herself of her sweater – turned away from him, of course – and replacing it with his shirt.

As she turned back to him, he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, "How did you know where I hid my favorite shirts?"

Maka blushed slightly as she leaned back against Soul's deep mahogany dresser. "I might have snuck in here once or twice while you were sleeping or in the shower."

Soul snorted, "You could have just asked, you know?"

Maka rolled her eyes as she approached him slowly, "No, because then I didn't know how you felt about me. And you didn't know that I had feelings for you."

Soul smiled, "No, but I hoped."

Maka blushed as she lay next to Soul again, "I'm uh… Sorry for the excessive teasing earlier, but in my defense, you deserved it since you didn't tell me when I asked."

Soul's face reddened once again as he cleared his throat nervously, "It… It's fine, but blimey, Maka, you can be quite scary sometimes."

Soul didn't even realize what he said until Maka turned ever so slowly to look at him. He gazed into her eyes, hoping and praying that she hadn't noticed but knowing she had. He took in her shocked appearance. Maka was gaping at him, emerald eyes wide as she smiled while staring at him with her mouth open. Soul tensed, his face turning red even more than before as his mouth flopped open and closed like a fish as he tried to form a sentence. "I-I…."

"You have a British accent…"


	13. The Brittish Accent

**I'm sorry it has taken so long to update. Science fair sucks... so yeah it has taken really long. And I am sorry it's short, but I will try to update soon. Enjoy. ;)  
**

**Soul**

_Oh, great. Just great. Now she knows._

_**Aww, c'mon. You know she was bound to find out sooner than later.**_

_Yeah, not helping._

_**Hey, think of it this way. At least you don't have to tell her later.**_

_Ugh…_

Soul pulled himself out of the argument with himself – or more likely his ever present demon, Tiny Imp – to face his lovely meister whom was gawking at him.

"Yeah, so?" was his only reply.

"So? Soul, you have a freaking British accent, and you didn't think to tell me?" Maka said, bewildered.

"Calm down, Tiny-tits. I was going to tell you eventually. I mean, it is a bit obvious since my mum and brother have the accent."

Maka narrowed her eyes, "Obviously, it wasn't because you had me and everyone else fooled."

Soul sighed, "Yeah, I guess you are right. But Maka, can you promise me something?"

"Maybe. That depends since you decided not to tell me about this certain trait."

"Keep it a secret for me?"

Soul watched as Maka's glare softened and she raised her brow in a question. Soul shook his head, "Please don't ask, okay? I don't like it. It makes me sound weird and uncool. Besides, it's a link to my past blocked by a closed door that has been there for a long time. It's one that I'm not in a hurry to open. But I'll tell you eventually. It's just a long story and I think it should be saved for a better time."

Maka smiled softly and Soul knew she understood, "Okay. I'll keep your secret, but I expect a full explanation soon. Oh, and that also makes me wonder…"

Soul furrowed his brow only to have them shoot up again in nervousness as he looked at the devious expression on his meister's face, "Maka, what are you thinking?"

Maka smirked as she scooted closer to him, so their hips were just barely touching, "Well, it seems that your accent comes out whenever you get sexually frustrated, hmm?"

Maka slowly traced the scar on his chest with her finger, making him shudder. Soul was getting nervous as to what she was thinking as her finger got lower and lower tracing his battle wound.

"Umm, Maka? Where are you taking this?" Soul asked anxiously.

Maka kept the smirk plastered on her face as she spoke to him, her finger now drawing circles on his hip bone, "It sorta kind of makes me wonder…" she leaned up to whisper in his ear as her hand dropped considerably low, "…if that is what you sound like during –"

Maka didn't get to finish as Soul let out a yelp, "Bloody hell, woman! Groping is not cool, not cool at all."

Soul glared at her when he finally composed himself. Maka had been laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face. Once she noticed her weapon's glaring, she contained her boisterous guffaws to a hiccupping gasp and wiped the mirth from her eyes.

"That was uncalled for," Soul stated sourly.

Maka's sigh was full of humor, "Really? You can't deny you liked it."

"Yes, but now that creates complications."

"Like what?"

"Well, for example, at first, it might have gone away. Now, I have to deal with it all night."

Maka's eyes widened in realization, "Oh! So you mean…? Haha, that's funny. Well, maybe it'll go away in your sleep when you dream of me."

Maka winked at him, and Soul's face was painted a dusty rose color, "A-are you serious? Maka that's so wrong!"

Maka giggled and rolled her eyes, "Just go to sleep, Soul. I'll make you breakfast tomorrow morning. We have a big day. Especially since I know you haven't started on your essay, and we have school in two days."

Soul growled, "Don't remind me." He wrapped his arms around Maka and pulled her closer. "You have to help me with that, okay? Promise?"

Maka smiled as she snuggled closer to Soul, "Promise."


	14. Breakfast and an Essay

**I apologize for the wait. Major writer's block as well as plain out being lazy. Don't hate me. :/ Anyways here's the latest and I promise to update tomorrow, too, since I am finally on Spring Break. Though I still have soccer practice. Yay.**

**Soul**

Soul woke up to sticky boxers. He sat up and rubbed his eyes groggily before running a hand through his hair. He sighed. That girl was going to kill him one day. He smiled. It was totally worth it, no matter exactly how gross waking up like this was.

Soul thought about how things had escalated between them lately as he grabbed a towel off of his dresser, walking toward the bathroom. He could hear Maka in the kitchen as she cooked breakfast. Soul shuddered at the sudden change of temperature as he stepped into the nearly scalding water. He shook his head in thought, still thinking. Maka. He loved her, and now he was completely sure that in a few years' time, he would propose. It almost scared him, how much he was sure of it. He knew he would never want anyone else. Soul burned for Maka, his passion for her was indescribable.

Simply looking at her or thinking of her made his heart yearn for her – Soul looked up to the ceiling – in more ways than one. The only reason they hadn't gone as far as sex is because he didn't want to push it. They had almost, but one or the other would always pull away when things got too heavy. Oh, how he wanted her, but he cared more for her than that urge to take her. As hard as it was for Soul to accept it, he had loved Maka for a long time. He had had his doubts, he had been afraid to open up. Though when he did, he found she was absolutely infuriating and a nag, but Soul also knew that she was the most loyal person he had ever known, and she would still be there waiting at the end of the day for him, through everything.

Maka was his best friend and knew him like no one else. Soul thought harder as he rinsed the body wash suds from his lathered body. He wanted to show her just how much he loved her. He couldn't propose yet. No, that would seem foolish. But he wanted to show that he definitely planned to. What could he do?

As Soul stepped out of the shower and into the cool, contrasting air against the steam, the thought came to him. He knew what he was to do.

**Maka**

The table was set for breakfast. Maka put the last touches on it as she flipped the last pancake and set the plate with pancakes in the center. She grinned. Soul would love it. Maka had prepared a breakfast of pancakes and French toast, bacon and slightly spicy sausage, fresh blueberries and strawberries, and orange juice.

She looked up to see Soul, clad in a towel hung loosely around his waist, with his mouth open as he stared at the table of food. Maka glided over to him and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Are you just going to stand there drooling all day, or actually eat?" She asked with a giggle.

Soul snapped out of his trance for a moment to look at her and muttered, "Oh yeah, eat. Eating's good."

Soul began walking towards the table. Maka cleared her throat, "Um…Soul, aren't you forgetting something?"

Soul spun around, "Huh?"

Maka giggled again, "Clothes?" she asked, pointing.

Soul looked down, shocked, "Oh, yeah, pants. Pants are good."

Maka watched him, confused as her boyfriend and weapon retreated down the hallway. Well, he was acting strange. Maka sat down at her usual spot at the table and began to serve herself. It was only a moment before Soul walked in, this time he was clad in dark jeans that hugged his thighs and butt nicely and a black shirt with the words, 'Take Extra Caution' written in bright red, matching his red Vann's.

Maka smiled and took a sip of juice, "Planning on going somewhere? You're dressed rather nicely."

Soul smirked as he served himself, "After we write that essay, yeah. I'll be gone about an hour, but then I'll be back to get you."

Said girl raised an eyebrow as she swallowed a bite French toast, "Oh? Come and get me for what?"

The smirk grew, "You and I are going on a date."

"Really?" she questioned, "Where to?"

" 'S a surprise," he said after gulping down a whole pancake and a few pieces of bacon.

Maka grinned at him over her cup of juice, "That's not fair."

Soul simply shrugged and popped a strawberry in his mouth.

"Soul!"

The weapon laughed as he began to clear the table. Maka finished off her juice and helped him, sighing in defeat. After the dishes were cleared away and washed, the weapon and meister once again sat at the multi-purpose table to begin their essays. They sat across from each other as per usual. After they were situated, Soul sighed.

"Okay, so what's the topic?"

Maka replied, looking down at the rubric, "It says here to think on the tragedy of 'Oedipus Rex' and decipher the blame in the story, so basically, whose fault was it, exactly? Oedipus, Creon, Apollo, Jocasta – "

"Fate."

Maka looked at her partner across the table from her rubric, "What was that?"

Soul's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at his own rubric, pencil in his mouth as he concentrated while re-reading the topic. He removed his pencil from his mouth and, without taking his crimson eyes off of his paper, he repeated, "It was fate."

Maka looked slightly confused, "Fate? How do you figure?"

Soul shrugged, "Well, isn't it obvious? The entire play is about running from fate or destiny and how that is impossible. Almost everyone attempted to run from fate, and they either died or blinded themselves and went into self-exile. Not even Apollo could change it. In my Latin class, the Latin IV students are reading 'The Aenied'. In the story, Juno doesn't want Aeneas to make it to Italy because she is angry with him, so as he is in Carthage, she attempts to make him stay by tempting him with the widowed queen, Dido, and Venus becomes worried that the prophecy won't come true, so Jupiter then takes her to the hall of prophecy, where the Fates have written the future in stone. It says that Aeneas will make it to Italy and fulfill the prophecy. No matter how hard Juno tries, fate wins out every time. Even the gods cannot beat it."

Maka just shook her head, "No, it isn't that. Apollo is to blame, not fate. The only reason Juno does not succeed is because Venus is one step ahead of her and strikes when Juno's guard is down because she thinks she has won. The only reason the prophecy is fulfilled is when another god steps in to alter its course. And since when do you take Latin?!"

Soul smirked, "Okay, well, you write your essay, and I'll write mine, and when I get a higher grade than you, let's just say I told you so," he stated as he looked down and began writing, "I've taken Latin for two years, by the way. I'm in Latin IV now."

Maka smiled as she began her essay as well. Soul. In Latin. First the British accent, and now this. Maka didn't know how much more of this she could take. One more language, one more accent, one more surprise, and she may very well be unable to restrain herself.

If only she knew.


	15. Date and a Promise

**I sincerely apologize for making you guys wait so long for this update. I know I promised. The problem being my computer wouldn't let me follow through on that promise, for there were *cough* complications. But here is your chapter. And I must say that I would not be anywhere without you guys. The people that favorite, follow and review, Kudos to you, man! You guys are rockstars. Just letting you know that I have decided on an ending to the story, and it will be ending fairly soon. However! There will be an epilogue part where there could possibly be a lemon IF you guys want me to. I think that after you guys' loyalty and putting up with me, you deserve to decide that much. Make Lemon and turn into M rating? Or just keep the sappy romance ending? Please Review or Private message me to let me know. Regrettably, I am not telepathic and cannot read minds, so I will not know your opinions otherwise. On another note, the drunken gang of people at their house had left earlier that morning because of their homework. They had to do the same essay as Soul and Maka. Just thought I'd clear that up. Sorry about the confusion and the agonizing, tortuous wait. Review!**

** ~Emma-Kate**

**Enjoy;)**

Soul walked swiftly down the sidewalk towards the little shop on the corner. It was about 5:00 in the evening. The essay didn't take as long as he expected, so he just came early. He had parked his motorcycle about a block away. He couldn't risk one of the Thompson sisters – or anyone else – seeing him or recognizing his bike. This was a very popular area to shop, especially to the Thompson sisters. Soul attempted to appear as normal as possible, but he was super nervous and his palms were sweaty. When he reached the store, he breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that business was slow and the last customers were leaving. He held the door open and the couple smiled to him and spoke their thanks. Soul let out another deep breath and entered the store with name of Graff. Graff Diamonds.

The store clerk looked up from polishing what looked like a ring from an assortment of jewelry. He was an elderly man with crescent-shaped glasses perched on his pointy nose. His snow white mustache was full and furry – as well as bushy eyebrows –, giving him a sense of friendliness. He was balding, with wispy white locks circling his crown.

"Ah, hello, Soul, I wasn't expecting you quite so early," he said in a warm tone.

"Uh, yeah, I finished with my essay early."

The old man smiled and walked toward Soul. As he neared, his crimson eyes became noticeable. Crimson.

He held out his hand to the younger man who gladly accepted, "I meant so early as in at this age. This girl must really have a hold on you, Grandson."

Soul slightly blushed as he shook his grandfather's hand and grinned sheepishly. "I'm here for a promise ring. I want to show her how much I care. She's the one I'm going to marry; I know that, but I don't want to rush things, and marriage at this age is too uncool."

The elder furrowed his brow and spoke with slight amusement, "Uncool? Your grandmother would blow a top if she heard those elementary words leave your mouth, young man."

"I meant that it is too rash, Grandfather," Soul stated.

The man known as Alastair chuckled as he shuffled towards the counter once again, "I know, boy, now come here. I have the perfect ring, as well as something else."

Soul followed Alastair and stopped on the opposite side of the display case as the elderly man revealed two soft deep blue velvet boxes. One, Soul recognized as a ring box. The other box was smaller in height, thinner, but longer and wider, as if it contained a necklace.

Alastair smirked, one strikingly similar to that of Soul's, and opened the box towards himself slowly. As he spun it to face Soul, he spoke, "I designed it myself. When you called, I set to work. It is some of my finest. I had one of my close friends from Buccellati help me with this. It was Stefan; you remember him. He says you can repay him by an invitation to your wedding in a few years. Think of it as an early wedding present."

Soul was oblivious to his grandfather's chuckle as he stood, mouth agape, in awe of the precious jewelry in front of him. It was indeed a necklace, but one of its own new kind.

**Maka**

Maka paced her and Soul's home living room nervously. What was he planning? Where was he? What had gotten into him lately? She was anxious and excited at the same time. Her head was spinning as she guessed countless possibilities and scenarios of what was to come with that mysterious weapon of hers. Suddenly, she heard someone at the door. She immediately halted in her pacing and bore holes through the door with her gaze. She heard the steps on the last stair, then the turning of the door knob. It took all her self-restraint not to throw herself at him when Soul stepped through the threshold.

They were caught at an impasse. Both were itching to embrace the other, but neither wanted to move or even breathe to possibly ruin the moment. It had been an hour and a half since they had last seen each other, but it felt like an eternity. One could say they were truly, love sick.

Soul finally broke the tension-spiked silence with one sentence of three little words, "You look amazing."

And she did. Maka was dressed in a simple white strapless dress which cut off right before the knees. The dress had red polka dots and a thick red ribbon across her ribs just below her chest. The ribbon tied into a bow below her right breast, and in the center of the bow was a black rose. For once, Maka's wavy golden locks were free and fell past her shoulders in a soft golden halo with a black ribbon to tie back her bangs. She also had a red sweater in case she was to get cold, and her shoes were simple red converse.

Maka blushed and replied, "Thank you. As do you."

Soul smiled at her, a smile that made her heart melt. "Shall we go, Princess?"

"We shall."

Soul pulled up to a restaurant Maka had never been to before. It was a nice building, fairly large and intimidating, yet welcoming, refined, and homey. Its name was Paisano's Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant, obviously five stars. Maka was flabbergasted.

As they walked in to the said food joint, Soul looked at their hostess, and spoke kindly, "Reservations for Soul Evans."

The hostess smiled and said, "Right this way."

Once they were seated, Maka looked at Soul with wide eyes, "Soul, this must have cost a fortune."

"It's really not a problem, and you're totally worth it anyways. Order whatever you want. It is for you anyways."

Maka blushed and timidly ordered her food. Soul even requested some champagne for them. Maka was beside herself. What was Soul planning? Soul was being a romantic. It was something that made Maka's stomach churn with excitement. She didn't know what he was up to, but she had a feeling it was going to be good.

After their meal, Soul took Maka walking on the dock, just outside the restaurant. The lights seemed to make her glow. Soul was standing against the rail of the dock gazing at Maka's beauty as she stared out to the water of the lake. Maka caught him looking at her.

"What?" she questioned as she looked at him.

"You're beautiful," he stated simply.

Maka's cheeks became a dusty rose color and she looked at her feet as Soul came to stand closer to her and offered his hand. She looked up questioningly.

"Walk with me."

Maka took his hand. She looked up to him expectantly. She noticed the slight blush on his cheeks as well. They were strolling towards the pier. It was where the ferry came. Right now, the gates were closed off the dock, so they both went to sit in the gazebo, the soft orbs of yellow lights from the restaurant illuminating the area.

Soul looked to Maka, "Maka, I have something planned, and knowing you, you have been suspecting something all along. I know that we haven't been dating very long, but my feelings for you have been there from the start. You know me like no one else and I can't picture myself with someone other than you. I find myself alone and reaching for you when I'm not with you. You are the reason I wake up in the morning. Nothing else matters next to you. You are my muse and my motivation. You drive me crazy and you nag, and sometimes I just wish you would shut it, but you still drive me crazy in a good way, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you, Maka."

Maka looked at him, speechless. What was he getting at?

"I'm not proposing just yet, but I want you to know that I plan to. To show you that there is no one else for me; to show everyone else that you are mine and I am yours. It's a promise. A promise of what I plan to do one day and that is to make you my wife. Maka, will you accept this promise ring?"

Maka had been so distracted in what he was saying; she hadn't noticed him pull out a small, blue velvet box. She looked down and her jaw dropped. She slowly, hesitantly picked up the small piece of jewelry. It was a simple silver band with a 4 karat diamond. With closer inspection, Maka noticed the gold writing on the band, "_True Love Waits."_ It was written twice around the band. Maka gasped, "It's beautiful."

"Then it matches you," Soul said, "May I?"

Maka nodded bashfully, and Soul took the ring from her and slipped it on her ring finger. Maka looked at him with tears in her eyes.

Soul smiled, not his lazy smirk, but that genuine smile that he reserves for her and no one else, "With this promise, I am yours to love and hold always. With this promise, I will be there whenever you call. With this promise, I will wait for you and stay loyal to you through and through."

Soul and Maka looked into each other's eyes, "With this promise, I will always love you. Even if one day shall come when you don't want me to."

With these words, they kiss.


	16. Back to School

**Hi, Sorry this isn't the longest chap, but I hope you enjoy. Sorry for mistakes. I was half-asleep when I wrote most of this. More soon.**

Maka

She could feel their eyes on her. Everyone in the school was staring at her as she walked down the hallway at school. Soul was in the music room this early in the morning before class as per usual. Maka looked to the floor as she made her way to her first period. Maybe she was going crazy and imagining things. _Maybe they're not all looking at you. They have no reason to, _thought Maka. She glanced up almost convincing herself to quickly look down again, feeling a blush blooming on her cheeks. _Nope, they are definitely staring. _

It wasn't that obvious, the small ring. No, what made it obvious was that it was a real diamond, no matter the size, and that it was on that one specific finger. The ring finger of her left hand.

Everyone knew who had given it to her. It could have been her Papa, was one suspicion, but that one was crushed as Spirit himself had had trouble keeping his eyes off of her hand when he had seen it when she walked into the entry hall. It was as if her hand was a giant deformed part of some monster. Maka just wanted to shrink back into the shadows and be forgotten there.

As soon as Maka reached her destination, she flung her essay on Mrs. Helm's desk and sought refuge in her seat behind a book. It helped, but only a little. She could feel them looking at her. She forced herself not to think about it. They could stare all they wanted. Besides, if you've got it, flaunt it. Right?

Maka had just begun to relax when she was greeted by two blurs of blonde slamming books down on the table beside her. Liz and Patty were here. Joy.

"Maka Albarn, when did you think of telling us about this little important piece of information!" Liz demanded.

Maka kept her composure as she replied without moving her eyes from her book, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Her wise reply was answered by Liz snatching her hand from her book and holding out in front of her face, pointing at the ring, "Oh, really, because I think you do, deary. It's kinda hard to miss when there's a big flashy diamond on my best friend's finger and she didn't even think to tell me about it!"

Maka blushed and shrunk into her seat, "It's not that big..."

"Not that big, my ass! That's an engagement ring. You could have at least told me so I could get the wedding planner!"

Patty giggled and chimed, "Maka's getting married!" Nothing. Absolutely nothing could possibly ruin this girls bubbly demeanor.

Maka's face flushed, and she looked at Liz with a dumb expression, "Engagement.. ring?"

Liz, all of a sudden, calmed, just as confused as Maka, "Uh, yeah. It's that size. Everyone's been talking about it. Isn't it?"

Maka glanced down at her hand with big eyes, "I had no idea. Soul gave it to me as a promise ring."

"Promise ring?"

Maka looked at her with a slight smile, "Yeah, see? It says _True Love Waits_. He said he was making a promise to one day marry me, but not yet, because we're young and he wants me to know that we won't make the same mistake my parents did. He.. he loves me. He really loves me, Liz."

Maka's smile had grown, and Liz's eyes got huge, "Damn right, he does. And he's also got some big bucks on him if he got you a diamond that big as a promise ring."

"What do you mean?"

Liz laughed, "What do you mean, what do I mean? When a guy proposes, he gets the girl a ring. A nice size diamond. And when they get married, tradition says that it's bigger than the last. If he got you a _promise ring_ that size, then just think of his future intentions with the others. They're gonna be whoppers, I'll tell ya."

"Liz!"

Liz just laughed again.

At that moment was when the big guy in question decided to come up behind Maka and sit down beside her. She could feel her face start to become as red as his eyes. Liz smirked at her and began talking to her little sister, sitting on the other side of her. Maka was frozen in place.

Soul leaned over closer to her to ask, "Is something wrong?"

Maka jumped when she felt his breath on her neck. "Please, don't do that."

"What?"

"Breathe on my neck like that. It's weird," she spoke to him, immediately calmer.

Soul smirked, "Why? Afraid you'll like it?"

Maka looked away as she rolled her eyes and pulled out her books, "Don't be silly."

She sounded completely serious, but her body language betrayed her. Soul didn't miss the slight blush blooming on her cheeks. Nonetheless, he simply smirked and silenced as the bell rang to begin class.

Soul

Soul smiled to himself. Mrs. Helm or Mrs. Hell as he liked to call her, was droning on about things he didn't care about. He didn't really see the point in learning the same thing he learned in 5th grade over and over again. What really had his attention was the cute little ash-blonde sitting next to him.

He grinned as got an idea. Without really thinking it through twice, Soul reached under the desk and grabbed Maka's hand. At first she was startled, but she kept his hand in hers as a small pinkness blossomed on her cheeks. He squeezed her hand, his eyes on her as she refused to look up from her notes.

She smiled and squeezed his hand back. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get through this after all. As long as she had him by her, she didn't care what anyone thought about them or the ring. They were happy.

ak


	17. Shopping Encounter

**Hey, guys. Sorry it took a while. Just thought I'd update. The story is eventually coming to a close. (Roughly at 23 or so chapters) From what my readers have requested, There will be a lemon though not yet. So when that happens, the thing will change from 'T' to 'M' if I haven't done that already because I can't seem to remember so.. Enjoy. **

**Maka**

So life went on as normally as possible. That is, with Maka and her new future fiancé/boyfriend being Soul Eater Evans, the most popular guy and youngest DeathScythe in the world other than Justin, of course. Maka and Soul grew closer and closer. One never saw one without the other at least for extended periods of time, and they were always smiling. Always. Everyone was just waiting for them to break, to have their first fight as a couple, but it didn't seem to be happening which was just fine for Maka. Nonetheless, Maka being Maka, and Soul being well, Soul, they were bound to have their disagreements, but they always ended playfully and with a plethora of kissing.

Maka was currently smiling as she and Soul walked to the grocery store. It had been a month and a half. It was the beginning of March with spring just around the corner, and Maka and Soul were excited, mostly because of what came with spring: Spring Break.

It had become a tradition for the whole gang to take a trip to Soul's family's lake house a few towns over every Spring Break, and this year Crona, Iyame, Masamune, and the Twins would be coming, too. That was in two weeks. Soul could barely contain his excitement as they entered the store. Maka went to work finding all the things on her list as Soul pushed the cart. For once, it was he who couldn't stop talking and Maka silently listened as she smiled at his antics. She turned to grab something off the top shelf to find that Soul was no longer there when she turned back. Maka slowly wandered to the place she had seen him last: playing and talking to a few kids of whom their mother looked relieved to finally get a break. Neither was anywhere to be found.

Perplexed, Maka turned the corner of the aisle, eyes scanning for the familiar white hair and crimson eyes. "Soul?" she asked the empty aisles as she passed. "Where could he be?" she mumbled as she turned one last corner…

…To almost be hit by a maniac that was zooming down the aisle while standing on the back of a cart.

Said maniac, by closer inspection, appeared to be just the man she was looking for, his impossible-to-miss, white, messy hair giving him away. She stalked over to him, hands on hips. Just as he was spinning around for a second go, he spotted Maka looking deadly and annoyed. Soul shrunk back with widened eyes just as a puppy being scolded would and silently slouched a bit closer to Maka, leaving the safety of the cart between them.

Maka stood on the opposing side of the cart, glaring at him, "How am I supposed to manage getting all my things," she began, "when I'm busy worrying if my _boyfriend_ is too busy _goofing off_, making me have to _look_ over my _shoulder _ to see if he needs _babysitting_!" By this time, Maka had picked up the closest thing she could reach from the buggy which happened to be a stuffed bear and, on each emphasized word, hit Soul as hard as she could with said bear.

Soul pretended to take a beating as she hit him repeatedly with the stuffed bear. When she finished, Soul lifted his head from the protective retreat of his arms, and they both glanced from each other to the poor, abused, stuffed bear before proceeding to laugh. The moment was too priceless. Maka beating her helpless boyfriend with a harmless stuffed bear in the middle of the super market was simply too much for them to take. By the end of their episode, Maka was holding her sides as Soul held onto the side of the buggy for support.

As soon as they could catch their breaths, Soul stood and Maka wiped the visible mirth from her eyes. She held up the abused bear, "How did this get in here anyways?"

Soul's face slightly reddened, "I put it there. It's just so cute. I wanted it. Besides, mine is pretty worn out from having it for so long."

Maka looked at him, dumbfounded, "You sleep with a teddy-bear?"

"Yeah, so?" Soul asked defensively.

Maka couldn't help the hysterical giggle that came over her. She began laughing so hard she could barely stand, and doubled over once again holding her sides. Soul looked at her and scowled, "Hey! What's so funny?"

Soul attempted to appear upset with her as a means to get her to stop, but her laugh was so contagious, Soul began to cackle again. After they had calmed for the second time, Soul pulled Maka closer and kissed her nose, "I love you," he said simply.

Maka giggled, "Heehees. I love you, too, Soul."

At long last, Soul pulled away, "Come on. We need to finish getting all of our supplies and stuff and head home before it gets dark. We could probably be home by now if one of us wouldn't quit goofing off."

Maka raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, good sir, but who was the one skating around on the back of a shopping cart as if he were five?"

"Well, who was the one laughing at my private life?" Soul asked pointedly.

"Sleeping with a teddy-bear is hardly considered one's private life," Maka stated.

"Maybe for me it is. And what can I say if I like to cuddle? I have to have something since _someone_ won't cuddle with me."

Maka snorted, "That's because you try to make a move on me every time I'm in the same room as you. What's to say you won't try something in bed, or even when I'm asleep?"

Soul wrinkled his nose, "Okay, that's just creepy."

Maka cackled.

"That, too," Soul shivered.

Maka sent him a Look and rolled her eyes, grinning as she looked at the shelves of food and ingredients, "What do you want for dinner tonight, sweetheart?"

Soul moved closer to her and nipped at her earlobe, speaking in a husky voice, "Depends on what's on the menu."

Maka giggled and shrugged away from him, "Food, Soul. You know, something with actual sustenance."

"Darn."

Soul pretended to look disappointed and Maka rolled her eyes once more, making him grin. "How about beef stew?" she asked.

"Hmm," he said as she moved to grab it off the shelf, "Beef stew?"

"I feel like comfort foods tonight. Beef stew, garlic bread, and some sort of juice, probably cranberry-grape, and maybe, by chance a glass or two of wine?"

Maka looked back at Soul with a mischievous sparkle in her eye. Soul perked up, "Ooh, someone's feeling festive."

Maka grinned, "Well, it's our senior year, exams are coming up, not to mention Spring Break, and then we'll graduate and be outta here before you know it. Going to college and living our own lives, out from under the watchful eye of my father. What's not to celebrate?"

Soul appeared to contemplate for a moment before smirking that infamous smirk, "Sounds… delectable," he whispered the last part in her ear, making her shiver. He loved making her squirm with a simple word, driving her crazy and onto the verge of attacking him with ferocious kisses right at that moment. He was so evil.

Maka shook her head and carried on to the cash register. As they were checking out, an elderly couple came up behind them. Soul was goofing off again and tossing things out of the buggy and onto the counter.

"Soul," Maka scolded, "Be careful. You could break something."

Soul scoffed and continued what he was doing. Maka glared at him, half-hoping he would break something just so she could prove her point. However, she never got her wish. Soul succeeded in moving everything from the buggy and onto the counter without breaking anything and proceeded in giving Maka a smug look.

"Wipe that smug look off your face, Soul Eater Evans. You were simply lucky this time."

"As if," Soul scoffed.

Maka continued to stare him down until the cashier spoke and told them their total. After paying, the elderly couple moved up in line. Maka glanced up at them as she and Soul got everything situated to carry home. They were buying exactly what she had just picked out for a meal. Comfort foods. She couldn't help but smile, tears slightly forming in her eyes. As they walked out, the couple held hands and Soul followed her gaze.

"Everything okay, Maka?" he asked in a concerned tone.

She simply nodded and grabbed his hand and said, "Let's go home," to which he willingly obliged. Maka thought to herself, _Maybe love can survive after all._


	18. Forgiveness of Past and Hope for Future

**So I know I had said to some that I was going to go to bed, but I couldn't help myself. You know, I'm going to kill myself one day. I really hope I'm not super tired tomorrow and I can actually stay away during my Exam tomorrow, so I did this for you guys so you better freaking love me. This is a cute chappie before the fun Spring Break one. Agh! 18 chapters already. You know this story is coming along so nicely. and it wouldn't be here now without you guys. It makes me really happy. So this one's to you guys. I love all of you! Thank you. and Enjoy**

**Soul**

Something was wrong. Soul knew immediately when he woke that something was off. He woke from a restless sleep with a slight sheen of sweat coating his body. Tears. He had seen tears. And Maka. Maka was crying?

He didn't waste a moment jumping out of bed, almost tripping over his sheets. All he could think about was Maka and keeping her from crying, from shedding one more tear because that was what he was supposed to do. Their souls were so closely linked that he could feel it. He could feel her sadness, her depression, her hurting. It hurt him deep.

Soul didn't waste a moment with putting on a shirt or even pants. Clad only in his black boxers, he ran to her room where a small lamp was illuminating a soft glow underneath the door. He burst into the room as he worried for her.

"Maka, I had a bad feeling. Are you okay? I felt –," Soul cut himself off when he caught sight of her on the floor.

She was kneeling with her back faced away from him. Her hair was down, the wavy blonde curls concealing her face from view, the dim light giving her the appearance that she's glowing. It was tragically beautiful as she cried, looking at what was spread in the floor in front of her. By closer inspection, Soul noticed they were pictures of her, her Papa, and her Mama. Soul realized she was talking to herself. No, she was talking to the pictures.

It was then that Soul remembered the date. That was why she wanted comfort foods. This day was the anniversary of the day her mother left because she couldn't take her husband's disloyalty. Soul could only stand there, helpless as she seemed to fall apart.

"Why, Papa? Why'd you have to ruin everything? You broke my trust. You made me think everyone is horrible. It's hard to trust even Soul sometimes because I don't feel worthy. Papa, why? Why did you have to be so cruel? It's not fair! Men are disgusting pigs, and you made them that way. You made Mama leave. Mama… Mama, why'd you go? Why couldn't you take me with you? But you just left me here alone. Without anyone to care for me, love me, be my Mama. Why? Why do you both have to be so cruel?"

Soul was close to tears. He couldn't believe his eyes. Part of him wanted to run to her, but the other part wanted to shrink back into his room and forget he ever saw this, and he hated that part of himself. He knew he couldn't abandon her, especially not now of all times. He had made a promise. He was going to keep that promise to be there for her when she needed it the most. But what could he do?

Soul saw her tears fall as she held onto her teddy-bear from her Mama. He felt one of his own fall to the ground. That was what set him off. He sat down behind her and pulled her into his arms. She immediately fought back. Screaming and yelling at him, calling him a horrible being that took away her Mama and he didn't deserve to be called her Papa. Soul was transferred back in time with Maka. He could see her memories through the soul resonance. Everything she had ever seen or felt was there in front of him suddenly. What he saw frightened him a little. It made him sad. No one should have to go through as much hurt and pain as she had gone through, as much pain as she was going through, especially his Maka. He held her closer, tighter, despite the kicking, screaming and retaliation he received from Maka. He was going to change it. He was going to heal her. He had to. He needed to be her hero.

"Maka. Maka listen to me. You're imagining things. It's over. I'm here. It's me. Soul. I'll protect you know and you don't have to worry anymore. I'm here. I'm here…"

Then Soul was once more transported to the past, but this time it was his doing. Now he saw himself at the piano and shaking Maka's hand for the first time. He saw them together at the balls held at DWMA. He saw her laughing and him grinning like a fool. He saw her getting frustrated and hitting him with a book on the head. Time fast forwards and they're battling Crona, and he leaps in front of her to protect her from a blow that would mean her death, not caring about his own life as long as she was safe. He saw the look on her face when she first saw his scar, the tears forming in her eyes as he told her it was okay because he wouldn't be able to live without her otherwise and it was completely worth it.

Time fast-forwards again and there they are, battling Asura and defeating him with a magnificent soul resonance that was powered by the strength of her soul alone. He sees her making him the most powerful DeathScythe in the world, just as she promised she would. He sees their parties with their friends, with her laughing, the cuteness of her flushed face as she is drunk. He sees her holding onto his waist tightly, feeling the heat of her body pressed against his as he speeds along on his motorcycle. And then he sees them fighting Mosquito, all of their friends tired and beaten, they're mostly defeated, and she stands with the last bit of her strength with that remarkable determination in her eyes that intimidates even him, though he would never tell her that.

The scene changes and he sees their first kiss. It's the way he feels about her, how she is the only thing tying him to this earth and nothing could change that. It's how he feels when he looks at her, he couldn't think of anyone or anything more beautiful than she, the girl who stole his heart. It's the way he feels when she touches him, the way she looks at him with those eyes; it's that look that makes him feel weak at the knees and then he crumbles, falling into her hands once again. He sees them together, not having to hide anything that they feel about each other. And then, Soul sees the day she said yes, the day she accepted his love, his promise, and he pours everything he feels or has ever felt for Maka into the memories. He closes his eyes tightly and gives her everything: the pain, the passion, the pleasure, the hurt, the want, the longing, the lust, the hope, the happiness, and the love. The love.

And he knew Maka could feel it, too.

Soul felt his face wet with tears as Maka finally calmed. He heard himself speak, "Please, Maka. Forget and forgive. Even if you don't forget, forgive. It's over now, and you don't have to worry anymore, because I'm here, and I made a promise. Please, don't close down on me now, not when I just got you back. Don't run away from me. I couldn't take it. I need you, Maka. I love you. Don't abandon me like everyone else as soon as I open up. Please."

Maka stilled and froze. Tears pouring from her face stopped. She sniffed through the silence. She could hear him. He came. He came to save her. She saw. She saw the rawness of his heart and the bittersweet memories within the darkest recesses. It made her heart ache because then she truly knew, at that moment, how much Soul really loved her.

Soul had his eyes closed tightly, holding onto Maka like a lifeline, bracing himself for the fall, the rejection that would surely deal the final damaging blow to his fragile heart, and it would finally cave in, the supports completely broken. He almost couldn't bear to hear it.

That was when she spoke, "I love you."

It was barely a whisper. So quiet that Soul, had he not been so close to her, would have surely missed. Soul wasn't sure what just happened. He was so completely sure of what she was going to say, it took a moment to register the thought and process.

He slowly opened his eyes, "You…what?"

He heard a weak chuckle from Maka, "I love you, you bonehead. I thought you would know that. Don't act so surprised."

Soul was instantly relieved. The feeling washed over him like a wave of renewal, and he felt suddenly revived.

Maka shifted in his arms so that she was facing him, "I'm so sorry, Soul. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just –," Soul cut her off.

"I know. But I'm here now."

Maka smiled and proceeded to kiss the tears off of his cheeks, and then pull him up and into her bed where she immediately snuggled close to him. She closed her eyes as she laid her head upon his chest.

Soul smiled to himself, "I thought you were afraid I'd make a move on you."

She smirked, "Honestly, I don't care anymore. I trust you more than that. Maybe sometimes we all need someone to hold onto."

Soul grinned softly, lovingly as he looked down at her. He relaxed and closed his eyes.

"Oh, and Soul?" she asked softly.

"Hmm," he replied, peeping a crimson eye open to be greeted by her two big olive ones.

"Thank you."

At first, Soul didn't know what to say. He didn't quite expect it. It had already been implied, but as she snuggled back into his chest once more, he smiled at her. She was soft, vulnerable, and she had Soul wrapped around her finger. Soul loved her with all his heart.

The last thought on Soul's mind before he fell asleep was, _Maybe love can last after all._

**So what'dya think, Huh? Did ya like it? hmm? didya didya didya?**

**Review. ;) **


	19. The Lakehouse

**Oh my gosh, I have 86 reviews now. 86! I never imagined that this could happen. I've read a lot of stories that were amazing with this many reviews but I never would have thought in a hundred years that this could happen to me. I feel so loved. So I decided to reward my amazing readers with an extra long chappie. over 4000 words and 8 pages on microsoft word. usually I keep it 2-3 pages. 8 pages! Consider it one page for every ten reviews. lol Funny how that worked. Okay just a warning there is a lot of explanation to the lakehouse in this chappie. My lakehouse to be exact, and it's kinda hard to explain so I hope I don't confuse you too badly. I tried going in a process but I dunno. but anyways. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review. I'm pretty sure I am going to do a lemon in the near future in this story so if the rating randomly changes to M then you know what's coming~**

**So I'm gonna stop my rambling and uh... let you read hehe... **

**Maka**

"YAAHOO! SPRING BREAK IS HERE AND YOUR GOD COMMANDS YOU TO CARRY ME AWAY TO MY CASTLE!" Black*Star said as he jumped on Soul's back and messed up his hair.

"Cut it out, Star. You are not a god and neither is Soul's lakehouse your castle," Kidd spoke, slightly annoyed by Black*Star's antics. At his remark, Black*Star was stunned and silenced as he froze in shock at Kidd's accusation, and Tsubaki simply giggled and pulled him along by his hand.

The two boys continued to argue as Tsubaki and Crona smiled and shook their heads. The group was heading to the lakehouse, but first, Soul, Kidd, Black*Star, and Masamune had to retrieve their vehicles. So currently, they were walking to the school's garage where they were kept.

Soul smirked to himself as he squeezed Maka's hand. She looked up to him, "Soul what kind of car do you drive? Is it the same color as your bike?"

"You sound upset that we aren't taking the bike, Maka."

Maka blushed slightly as she looked away, "Well, maybe I like it. I'm used to it, you know."

She nervously adjusted the strap on her rolling luggage in her free hand. Soul noticed her uneasiness, and quickly took the chance to tease her.

"Or maybe," he began, "it's because you use it as an excuse just to touch me."

Maka's face turned as bright red as a ripe tomato just then, and Soul was quick to point it out which rewarded him with a familiar Maka chop.

"Ouch, Maka," Soul whined as he rubbed his now tender scalp, "I thought we had moved past resorting to violence when embarrassed?"

"Nope," Maka stated simply, making a point to pop the 'p', as she grinned at him.

Soul pouted but immediately perked up with a slight flush to his face when Maka casually leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "I'll make it up to you later."

Soul was momentarily lost in the innuendos of those words as Kidd, who had assumed the position of leading the group to the DWMA car garage came to a stop in front of a large, closed, retractable garage door.

Kidd spoke simple, smirking to himself, "We have arrived." He then pressed a button on a remote that seemed to just appear in his hand, and the doors lifted to reveal two very nice, expensive, and extravagant-looking cars resting at the front area of the garage. One, Kidd's car, was – you guessed it – black with three skulls painted on the front hood, one larger in the middle with two smaller ones on either side. It was a four-door and five-seater. It also had purple neon lights underneath, as well as slightly blackish-purple streaks fading in and out of the black on the sides of the car. Kidd smiled pridefully as Crona looked slightly nervous and muttered something about not knowing how to deal with nice cars.

Soul's car was as Maka predicted. It was clothed in a color to match his motor bike. It was sleek and somewhat simple compared to Kidd's, but as he opened the doors, it revealed the peculiar butterfly style of the doors. It was a two-door as butterfly doors would look tacky with more than that. It had a black leather interior, and the windows were tinted very deeply. Maka smirked at this, _Boys and their cars. _She had wondered why he hadn't wanted to bring her red five-seater. Now she knew.

_Flashback:_

"_I don't understand why you want to bring your super expensive car to a two week stay at a lakehouse, Soul. I mean, it's not like anyone's gonna see it. Besides, my car will hold more people."_

_Soul met Maka's gaze and visibly pouted, "But, Maka, I wanted you to see it. Plus, Kidd is bringing his car, and I can't let him show me up. He's not the only one with nice toys."_

_Maka smirked and rolled her eyes at this, "Toys, huh? So you've compared, I take it?"_

_Flashback over._

Maka smiled to herself as she remembered the look on her boyfriend's face when she had said those words. She grinned even more when she came to the suspecting conclusion that the real reason he wanted to take his car was _because_ he didn't want anyone else to be able to ride with him, as in he would get to be alone with Maka. She would ask him when they were alone. Maka glanced at the other two cars as Soul and Kidd pulled theirs out of the garage, followed by Masamune's and Black*Star's. Soul then proceeded to pack his and Maka's luggage in the trunk of his car.

Black*Star's car was one Maka was very familiar with simply because it used to be hers. She and Black*Star had fixed it up. It was a two-door 1965 Mustang with a black interior and two hood scoops on the front with a V8 engine. The thing that stood out the most about this car, however, was the color. At the roof of the car down to the window of the door, it was a navy blue. From there, it slowly faded into a bright, light, teal color at the bottom. It definitely fit Black*Star's personality.

Masamune's car was a cherry red Mercedes that Iyame and the Twins had gotten him for his birthday this past year. Simple, fast, and eye-catching. The boys definitely had the fast and eye-catching part down.

Maka was pulled out of her observations by Iyame and the other girls, who were huddled in a group to the side as the guys loaded the luggage. She smiled and walked over to them, "What's up guys?"

The girls looked at each other and shared nervous but mischievous smiles and glances. Well, all except Crona who just looked nervous. Maka was suddenly confused, "Okay, guys, what's going on?"

Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki giggled, and Iyame looked to Maka to explain, "We were thinking of giving the guys a bit of a surprise once we all get settled in at the lakehouse."

Maka crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg, "Enlighten me."

Iyame filled Maka in on the plan, and she smiled and agreed. _This oughta be good._ Crona, however, looked a tad bit uneasy about the whole thing, "I dunno, guys. I-I've never done anything like that before, and I don't know how to deal with situations like that."

Tsubaki piped up, "You don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it, Crona."

"Yeah, no one's pressuring you to do anything you don't want to. It was just an idea," added Liz.

"But," Patty started, "It would be nice if you would, especially for Kidd."

Crona shifted and seemed to think about it, "I guess I could for Kidd. That is, if I have you guys with me."

All the girls cheerily agreed and Liz, Patty, and Iyame shared a knowing look referring to the oblivious Maka. Tsubaki winked at Iyame who was standing across from her in the little circle, letting her know that she too was in on the secret plan Maka knew nothing of.

The girls' giggling was interrupted by the boys calling to them from the cars as they had finished packing the entire articles of luggage. The huddle dispersed and Maka traveled over to Soul whom was leaning against the trunk of his car with a knowing smirk on his face.

"So what were you girls talking about?" he asked innocently as he followed Maka over to her side of the car and opened her door for her.

"Nothing. Why?" Maka stated curiously, trying to appear innocent, but Soul saw right through it.

He smirked as he got into the car and buckled with Maka following suit, "As if. You six are planning something, so tell me."

"Nope," Maka simply said, popping the 'p' as per usual, "Spoilers!"

Soul chuckled as Maka suddenly reminded him of a certain spunky senior citizen on Maka's side of the family, "Oh, so now we're turning into Grandmama Albarn, are we? At least tell me this: should I be worried."

Maka smirked and replied, "Not particularly. I think you'll like it."

Soul simply returned the smug look and nodded his head as he pulled away from the school to lead the way to the lakehouse, Liz and Ryoku riding with Kidd and Crona and Miku and Patty riding with Tsubaki and Black*Star.

Soon after pulling out of the school, Maka felt a warm hand grabbing hers. She intertwined their fingers and smiled up at Soul who returned the smile and gave her hand a squeeze. Spring Break had barely begun and already, Maka could see that it would be a good one.

On the way there, Soul and Maka rode in a comfortable silence as it was about an hour and a half to a two-hour drive. Maka was reading one of her latest fantasy novels: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

She was getting further and further into the novel as her favorite character, Hendel, and Balinor and the Elven brothers Durin and Dayel were traveling to Callahorn, Balinor's father's kingdom, to protect the Southland from the evil sorcerer's armies marching in from the Northland when she felt Soul place his hand on her thigh.

Maka peeked over her book to stare at the hand on her lap. Soul was casually stroking her upper thigh. It shouldn't have, but it was beginning to make Maka a little nervous as his hand would occasionally dip to her inner thigh. Though it wasn't exactly that that made her nervous. It was the fact of what could happen if they were to hit a bump in the road like when they went to her Grandmama's for Thanksgiving. She felt herself blush as she remembered exactly how that had happened when the positions were reversed. At this she snuck a sideways glance at her driver. He seemed to feel her stare and looked over just as she quickly looked away and pretended to focus her attention on what was in her hand.

But she couldn't focus, especially since Soul had seemed to catch her glance and the slight pinkness on her cheeks as he rubbed her thigh, so he decided to move his hand a little further up. Maka was really nervous now even though she couldn't deny she liked it. She was trying rather hard to keep a straight face. _Just ignore it, Maka_, she thought, _He does this all the time. Why are you getting nervous all of a sudden?_ She already knew the answer. There was a part of her, one she couldn't deny, one she shunned and looked down upon, that wanted him to continue. He was so close. It would be so easy, so entirely simple for his hand to slip and –

Maka bit her lip. What was she thinking? She shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that. Sure, they were kinda sorta engaged, but still. They were not yet married, therefore she shouldn't, she couldn't, be thinking thoughts like what she was. But she was. And she liked it.

Maka felt her face heat up even more as his hand seemed to get closer. Any further and she just wouldn't be able to take it. She held her breath as she anticipated. Her eyes were glued to the pages of her book, but she wasn't reading. She felt tightness in her stomach as she tensed up. Maybe she was imagining things. He wouldn't go that far on purpose. No, Soul liked to tease her, but still, he wouldn't do that, right? Unless…

Unless, of course, he was doing it to tease her… Unless he was doing it for revenge from the time she _accidently_ groped him in the car. Unless… he was playing with her to see how much she could take.

That's when it hit her. Soul was playing the nervous game. And he was winning.

His hand was creeping closer and closer now. Maka closed her book and set it down as casually as she could, shifting in her seat as she moved to sit up straight in hopes to move slightly away from Soul's hand. His warm, big, enticing hand. Soul, however, ignored this gesture and kept right on, slowly inching up Maka's thigh. Maka tensed more and scrunched close her eyes in anticipation. Just before Soul had reached the end of Maka's leg, she let out a small, soft moan of pleasure.

It was quiet, but it the silence of the car, it was perfectly audible. Realizing exactly what had just happened, Maka hurriedly covered her reddened, hot face with her hands as Soul chuckled victoriously in response. He removed his hand from her thigh to attempt to coax her out of her hiding.

Maka simply shook her head, "Nope. Nope. Leave me alone. You won the nervous game, Soul. No need to rub it in."

Soul chuckled again and stopped trying to pull her hands away, "I'm not trying to rub it in, Maka. I was just teasing you." There was a pause before he leaned over and whispered huskily in her ear, "I would like to rub something else though."

Maka immediately grabbed her exceptionally thick book and went to trying to playfully beat Soul's brains out with it, but Soul, expecting this reaction, defended himself with his free hand as he right out laughed.

"Alright, alright," he said as he calmed his laughter, defeated, "I give. But you did seem to enjoy that quite a bit, don't you think?" He said, glancing at her with that infuriating, mischievous half-smile of his.

Maka blushed as she looked first at him with wide eyes and then with a calmer, but still embarrassed, expression, "No more than you did," she mumbled, averting her eyes.

"Hey," Soul said, "at least I controlled myself when you outright _groped_ me. Talk about uncool."

Maka, face flushing, snapped, "It was an accident, and the bulge in your pants said otherwise."

"Oh, so you were looking, were you? How _do_ I know that it was just an accident when you groped me? You know, since you were apparently paying so much attention to my nether regions," he retorted with a scoff.

"It was an accident! And for your information, it's kind of hard to miss when it's right there and you could feel it with your hand and it was so-so big!"

She had meant it to be an insult. She really had. But it didn't quite turn out that way, and now, both of them blushing in the dead silence of the car, it was quite obvious.

Soul finally spoke up, meeting her gaze with a teasing remark, "You liked it, didn't you?"

Maka averted her gaze once more and gave no response.

"You liked it and you thought it was big when it was only slightly hard, and that makes you curious."

No response.

"You not only liked it, but you liked it a lot, and you also want to do it again."

No response.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

There was a moment of silence once more as she answered so quietly it was almost inaudible, "Yes."

That word sent Soul's brain into hyper drive as he stared at the road as he drove. She liked it, and she wanted it to happen again. She liked it. And she wanted it to happen again. She liked _it_. She _wanted_ it. To happen. Again. Soul wasn't sure what to think as he tried not to be turned on by the thought. So many questions raced through his mind like: what other things would she like? And how far would she go? Soul didn't know, and he didn't care. He just could not seem to get his mind to grasp around the fact that she liked it. He was so busy being lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Maka speak to him until she was right in his face.

"Soul. Soul?"

"W-what?" he asked numbly as a pink color dusted his cheeks.

"Pay attention or you're gonna run us off the road."

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure. Sorry."

"Are you okay?" she asked, "What were you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh it was nothing. I'm fine, really," he assured.

"Oh, okay. How much further anyways?" asked Maka as they turned onto a new road with trees all around. It couldn't be far because between the breaks in the trees, she could see the lake.

"Oh, it's coming up soon," Soul told her as they rounded a corner, "Here it is."

Maka was greeted by the familiar sight of the lakehouse. She had been here a number of times with Soul, but she just couldn't shake how big it was. The lakehouse was large: three stories where you enter on the 2nd floor. It was white and pretty much square for the base of it. There was a nice, small covered porch in the front and a four car garage that connected to the house to the right. The front door was mahogany, with a glass center window that had a nice swirly design on it. To the left at the front was a tall privacy fence that had a gate and a lock on it. Over the top of the fence one could just see the top of a small building which held the hot tub. It was definitely grand, but that was just the outside. In the front.

Maka and Soul were the first ones there, and the others had yet to arrive, so they decided to go ahead and get their stuff inside and situated. When one walks through the front door, there is a decent sized square of mahogany hardwood right inside as a place for shoes. The color white is very popular in the house. The floor other than the square of hardwood is flooded in a plush white carpet. Standing at the front door, one can see that the 2nd floor isn't much as 6 feet ahead, there are stairs that lead down into the main room. The second floor is open to the main room with mahogany railings lining the edge of the 2nd floor. To the left, there was a small staircase leading up into the 3rd floor, but before it is reached, if one were to turn to the right, there is a walkway leading to two rooms with dressers, rocking chairs among other seating, as well as a king sized bed and bathroom connected to each. The second bedroom, the one at the end of the walkway also had a balcony that looks over the lawn outside in the back. To the right, a walkway led to the main kitchen and another small staircase led to the 3rd floor immediately to the right as soon as one entered the kitchen. The kitchen had an island counter with twelve barstools placed around it, and there were French glass doors that led to a small upper deck with three small patio tables that each held four. The deck had a staircase that led to the lower, main deck, but underneath the upper deck was a small screened in area with a few tables and higher tables with tall chairs for two. Upstairs on the third floor was where most of the bedrooms were. If taking the left staircase, the narrow steps lead to the game room with two small twin sized beds, a flat screen TV, a pinball machine, and an air hockey table. In the middle of the right side of the room were two steps that led into a hallway. On the hallway, there were four bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, dressers and king sized beds. One of the bathrooms of the rooms also connected to the hallway for access. After continuing down the hallway, one will reach two small steps again, leading into another open area like the game room except this room had four girl-themed, identical twin sized beds. That room led down contained the stairs leading down into the kitchenette.

Back at the front door, if one were to continue down the staircase leading to the main room/living room, the staircase flowed out, forming a sort of semicircle with each step. To the left of the staircase was a small half bathroom. The living room lay out was as follows. On the left half, there was a brown leather couch separating the room with a small ottoman case with blankets inside of it behind it. The couch was facing toward the left wall where a flat screen TV rested, mounted on the wall above the fireplace. There was an ottoman in the center of the seating, a loveseat, matching the couch, facing the matching ottoman, and two plush light green chairs sat against the far wall straight across from the front door. That particular wall was lined with floor to ceiling windows. In the far left corner was a door to the master bedroom which Soul got for him and Maka this year as it was their first year together. It had French doors with curtains leading to the back deck. And in the Master bedroom were a few comfy seats as well as a king sized bed with a canopy. In the left side of the room, there was a door way with a curtain covering the way. It led to a master bathroom with two sinks and a large mirror to the left right as you walk in and a linen closet to the right. Walking further in, to the left was a shower and the farthest down was a door to the toilet and to the right were steps leading up to a large bathtub with jets.

In the right of the living room was a 6-chair dining table next to a small kitchenette/bar with a door leading to the laundry room in the right corner near the stairs. In the far right corner, there was an archway with forever opened French doors that led to another dining area where a small high table was paired with four tall chairs. There was also yet another set of French doors to the left in that room, leading to the covered/netted deck area. The wall windows looked out onto the back deck which contained several sunning lawn chairs. The deck was very large and looked out onto the rather large backyard. Connecting to the deck was a boardwalk that led to the three small shelters for the boat, canoes, and paddleboats as well as the dock. That was Soul's lakehouse.

Maka walked in following Soul. When he traveled into the master bedroom, Maka followed. There, she noticed, was a piano in the left corner of the room. She had never been in this room before, but Soul had always stayed in here. It made her curious. She tore her eyes away from the piano to see Soul standing by the bed, looking at her.

"You don't mind sleeping in here with me, do you?"

Maka smiled as she walked over to hug him, "Not at all, dear. I've just never been in here before."

Soul smirked as she looked around at the room. The bed sheets were black, with red and black pillows and blankets. The canopy was a deep red. It seemed like this room was designed by Soul himself.

Soul caught her gaze as she was looking at the canopy, "Like it?"

She nodded.

"I'm glad. I designed it myself."

Maka smiled in her mind as she looked around curiously. _Called it_, she thought.

"For us."

_Didn't call that._ Maka spun to face him. He had a serious look on his face. He wasn't joking. But this couldn't have been done recently which meant… He had been planning on having her and only her with him for quite some time. Maka's head was spinning as she blushed. Soul was still over by the bed. Did he want her to come over to him? Maka was freaking out inside. She had just come to the realization that they were in a large house. Alone. In the master bedroom. With a giant bed and locks on the doors. Maka gulped. The temptation was building. Shouldn't the others be there by now?

As if to smite her, fate just had to be humorous today because that's when Soul got a text from Tsubaki. He looked up from his phone, smirking, completely oblivious to the war in Maka's head.

"Black*Star got them lost. Kidd remembers some, but they're gonna plug it in Kidd's GPS system. They won't be here for another hour at most."

Maka's stomach dropped as she saw Soul lean on the bed post with that seductive grin of his. The only thing she could think as she looked at his innocent face was:

_Uh-oh._

**Oh, how exciting. A cliffhanger. My best friend. You know, I'm not even sure how the story (this chapter) even got to this point. It just sort of happened. hehe.. Well, you know. I'm a teenage girl and tend to do my best to go off on wild tangents you know. well, adios amigos and amigas and I hope to update soon as I am already working on the next chapter but I make no promises. I mean it took me three days to write this massive machine. hehe. alliteration. I made a funny. massive machine. Yeah I'm gonna stop nerding now and uh.. go be a nerd playing kingdom hearts.**

**Meh.**


	20. Roger Rabbit

**This story is dedicated to JustAnotherNumber whom introduced me to Sleeping with Sirens to begin with. Every review she writes makes me laugh because it's totally crazy and she has a habit of going off on crazy tangents. All of your reviews make me smile, and I apologize for taking this long. Major writers block. So I'd like to thank all of you, especially JustAnotherNumber for keeping up to date.. even though my best friend reads the story and favorites and follows, but he still doesn't think I'm good enough to leave one review. Just one! One lousy review! **

**So before I go and stop my ranting about my dear friend, Kristoffer, or as I call him, Kristofferson, I would like to say one thing:**

**Tinder Bocsh!**

**That is all.**

The tension in the room was building by the second.

It didn't take long for Soul to figure out what Maka was thinking. It was all there in her body language: the way her face was flushed, the way she was frozen in place, the way she bit her lip looking nervous, and the way she stared at him with that intense gaze.

Soul's cool persona was quickly drained under her stare. At first he had just been planning on possibly getting a kiss or two as they grabbed a bit to eat, but this, this was driving him crazy, and what made him nervous was the fact that – now that she had made it so obvious of what she was thinking – he wanted it.

Soul shifted uneasily. His face was now flushed. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to shrink away from her, moving slightly closer to the bed. This movement, however, seemed to give his girlfriend the wrong impression because her eyes widened and her face flushed a little more. Soul quickly moved a little away from the bed and looked to the ceiling, afraid to pressure her if he were to move closer to her or further away.

Maka began to look around the room as well. Neither of them knew what the other wanted, though both wanted it. They were conflicted, and neither wanted to do something wrong. Soul knew Maka was mostly afraid of trusting him that much. He couldn't blame her. After having someone like her Papa as an example, who wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt?

But Soul knew. Soul knew that he would never trade Maka for any girl in the world. He knew that she was the only one that could ever truly make him happy. And he loved her so much. She made him crazy with that little smirk. She knew exactly what strings to pull to turn him on or get his attention. Who was he kidding? She always had his attention, but it seemed like she had some sort of hold on him. Just looking at her, he could feel this warmth start in the pit of his stomach and spread to his chest. His heart would start to pump wildly, almost as if he could feel it in his throat. The feeling then would spread to his legs, making them feel like jelly. He could hardly stand. He crumbled in her presence. She could say anything, do anything, and he would comply, unable to stop himself or her. Finally, it moved to his fingers and toes, numbing his senses. He couldn't feel anything except her touch, and each slight touch would send chills down his spine to quickly be replaced by the fiery sensation of lust and pleasure. He couldn't stop it, and he didn't want to. She just had that effect on him.

Soul wanted so badly to show her how exactly how she made him feel. He wanted her to feel what he did. That pleasure. Soul didn't know how, but he'd figure it out. But… How could he when she was afraid? He could sense that she wanted him, too, but she didn't want to give in yet, not without knowing for sure.

Without putting much more thought into it, Soul quickly moved to Maka, grabbed her by the shoulders, and smashed his lips onto hers. She responded immediately, slipping her arms around his neck to pull his face down to hers, her hands tangled in his hair. His hands rested on her waist as he pulled her hips roughly towards his. As their hips collided, Maka moaned softly into Soul's mouth. Soul smiled into the kiss, glad that she liked it, but Maka wasn't too happy with being the only one to have moaned. She got vengeance by pulling away slightly to suck on his bottom lip, releasing it with a nip, a trick that Soul had tried with her in their kitchen. This brought a load moan from Soul, just as she predicted, and Maka giggled. Soul growled and lunged for her neck, coating it with soft kisses. The soft sighs of pleasure he received from Maka after quickly encouraged him to change his soft kisses into little nips and hot, open-mouthed kisses. Maka responded by tilting her head to the left, and giving him better access to her neck. Soul could feel Maka's hands wondering his chest; it sent his head into a spin. Soul sucked on her jugular, grazing his teeth lightly against her throat.

"Soul…," Maka spoke breathlessly. Soul immediately pulled away, looking at her curiously; afraid he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry," Maka said shyly, "I didn't want you to stop; it just got a little heavy for me is all. I'm so –,"

Soul cut her off by holding up his hand, shaking his head. He knew what she meant, and he wanted to show her that, but… how? How could he when he knew she wanted it, but he also knew that her doubts could give her reason to possibly regret it. Soul didn't want that. He wanted everything to be as perfect as she is. How could he tell her everything he wanted to tell her? How could he get her to do the same? If she wanted him now, she needed to be sure, and she needed to tell him; tell him everything. He needed to show her who she was to him, to show her she could trust him more than anything her heart and head allowed. Soul was thrown into chaotic turmoil. He wanted to relay his message, display his feelings and get her to do the same. But how?!

That was when Soul's eyes landed on the piano.

Soul knew exactly what he was to do now. Thankful for having the common sense to put a piano in the master bedroom, he pulled Maka over to the monster of an instrument and sat her down next to him. Maka looked at him confused. He glanced up and they locked eyes, his eyes conveying a message that she instantly read. _Listen._

And listen she did.

Soul, feeling her eyes tenderly resting upon him, began to play. His fingers moved across the keys as though he were born to play this instrument. It was a simple tune. It went hand in hand with a song, a song Maka was familiar with. It was rock, normally played with a guitar, very acoustic. It confused Maka for a minute. _What was he getting at?_ It surprised her even more when Soul closed his eyes and began to sing:

"_Is there a right way for how this goes?_

_You've got your friends and you've got your foes_

_They want a piece of something hot_

_Forget your name like they forgot _

_Oh…_

_Ain't that something…_

Maka was shocked that she never knew. Well, she'd heard him sing in the shower occasionally, but never like this, and she never really elaborated on it. His voice was melodious. It wasn't high like the original singer of the song, but it wasn't super deep either. It was kind of like the lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch, but smooth like jazz. Maka was entranced and couldn't take her eyes off of him. But she still didn't know why.

_Some wanna see you crash and burn_

_And criticize your every word_

_I'm trying to keep from going insane_

_Ain't that the way of this whole damn thing?_

_Oh…_

_Trying to be something…_

_More_

_Nobody's gonna love you_

_If you can't display a way to capture this_

_Nobody's gonna hold your hand_

_And guide you through_

_No, it's up for you to understand_

_Nobody's gonna feel your pain_

_When all is done_

_And it's time for you to walk away_

_So when you have today_

_You should say all that you have to say_

_Oh…_

_Say all that you have to say_

It didn't take Maka long to realize that Soul was not just singing _to_ her, but _about_ her. He was trying to tell her something. It was something important, she knew. There was a message he was trying to transmit through the song, but Maka's receiver was off. She had in fact heard the song before, and she liked to sing along, but she had never taken the time to think about what the pretty words meant.

_Is there a right way for being strong?_

_Feels like I'm doing things all wrong_

_And still I'm here just holding on_

_Confess my heart and forgive my wrongs_

_Oh…_

_Just trying to show you something…_

_More_

_Nobody's gonna love you_

_If you can't display a way to capture this_

_Nobody's gonna hold your hand_

_And guide you through_

_No, it's up for you to understand_

_Nobody's gonna feel your pain_

_When all is done_

_And it's time for you to walk away_

_When you have today_

_You should say all that you have to say_

By the time Soul sang the second chorus, Maka began to understand. She had to tell him what she wanted, but how was that supposed to help her trust him? Maka grumbled inwardly. If it weren't for her Papa, she wouldn't have this problem. If it weren't for her Mama, she wouldn't have been around Papa so much. She hated them for doing this to her. It was their fault. It was their fault that she was this way. They did it by being horrible parents. And then, as if the song was chiding her, Soul sang on.

_Don't point the blame when you can't find nothing_

_Look to yourself and you might find something_

_It's time that we sort it out_

_All of the things we complain about_

_So listen close to the sound of your soul_

_Take back a life we led once before_

_If it ain't you, then who…?_

_If it ain't you, then who's gonna love you?_

Maka then knew that she couldn't keep blaming her Papa. She needed to do as Soul told her and look into her soul. It had all the answers, just like he said. Maka closed her eyes and listened. It told her…

_Nobody's gonna love you_

_If you can't display a way to capture this_

_Nobody's gonna hold your hand_

_And guide you through_

_It's up for you to understand_

_Nobody's gonna feel your pain_

_When all is done_

_And it's time for you to walk away_

_When you have today_

_You should say all that you have to say_

Maka knew exactly what he was trying to tell her. Sometimes you just had to go the extra mile for that someone you love and take the leap of faith by trusting them a little more, and then you'll know. She smiled as Soul looked at her. She then sang the last to lines with him, harmonizing with his voice an octave up as they spoke to each other with their eyes.

_So when you have today_

_Say all that you have to say"_

As soon as Soul stopped playing, Maka attacked his lips. She hit him with such force that he fell off of the piano seat and onto the floor with her landing on top of her. He grunted on impact and Maka giggled as she looked at him.

Soul rubbed the back of his head as he glared at Maka. The effort was lost, however, because he couldn't hide the big goofy smile on his face from Maka, "Ow, what did you do that for?"

Maka just snickered and kissed him again, this time more gently, but still passionate which he eagerly returned. When she pulled away, her eyes were soft, all teasing erased, and filled with love as she whispered, "Thank you."

Soul smiled, "You're welcome. But Bloody Hell, Maka, you pack in a rather hard tackle."

Maka began to giggle again. That was when Soul realized he had let his accent slip again. It wasn't as bad as it used to be, but whenever he got around his parents, grandparents, or brother, it was really bad. It's like the Southern accent that you just can't shake whenever you go back home to visit your country bumpkin family. Soul rolled his eyes and chuckled a little with her.

"Alright, alright. Lay off it!" he said, still unable to speak without the accent invading his voice box and controlling his vocal cords.

At this Maka broke into a hysterical fit of giggles and every time Soul would try to say something, she just laughed more. Eventually, Maka, still sitting on top of him, straddling him, leaned back holding her sides from laughing so hard and reached up to wipe her eyes. That was when Soul attacked.

Soul shot up from where he was on the floor, grabbed Maka's hands as she yelped, and pinned her down on the floor beneath him. Maka giggled just a little bit more before quieting down, somewhat intimidated by Soul's sudden movement. Soul's eyes scanned over Maka's face. She appeared absolutely beautiful. Her eyes were sparkling from the tears that built up in her eyes, as well as her face slightly flushed and tinted pink from laughing so hard. Her hair had come loose out of its pigtails, and the sort of wavy curls that surrounded her face seemed to glow, making her look like the angel she was.

Without thinking, Soul blurted, "You're so beautiful."

Maka grinned and leaned up to kiss his cheek softly. When she laid her head back down, Soul's eyes found hers, and for a moment they just stayed that way, looking at each other, speaking with their eyes. Then, as they both realized something like the awareness of their positions with Maka's hands held above her head, Soul leaned down and kissed Maka's lips which she welcomed wholly.

The kiss was soft and sweet, but still filled with heated passion. Maka was the first to break the kiss, leaning up to kiss his jaw and then nibble his ear as she whispered, "I love you. I want you."

Soul pulled back, slightly shocked as he looked at the girl beneath him. Had he heard her right? Was she sure that was what she wanted? He was answered by Maka smirking up at him, pleased with herself by the fact that she had managed to make him uncomfortable. Soul smirked in answer. _So we're not gonna play fairly, huh? No matter; two can play at that game._

Soul attacked her lips roughly and hotly. He slid his tongue across her bottom lip, and she allowed him entrance. They fought for dominance with their dancing tongues. Soul pulled up a little just to come back down and latch his lips unto her neck. He left trails of hot, wet kisses and nibbles from her collarbone to her jaw and nibbled her ear. He pulled away to whisper in her ear just as she had done, "I love you, too."

This action added with pulling away suddenly drew a small, somewhat frustrated, moan from Maka. Soul smirked again and continued to toy with her, covering her with hot kisses just to pull away when she started to get used to it and join in, all the while keeping her arms pinned. It frustrated Maka to no end, so while Soul was busy lavishing her neck with kisses, Maka noticed an opening.

Soul had moved his body closer to hers to better get at her neck, but what he hadn't realized was that, as he was distracted by her neck, he left his completely open for Maka. Maka wasted no time in leaning up and biting where his neck met his shoulder. Hard.

Soul moaned audibly. Maka giggled as Soul glared at her. She had succeeded in punishing him painfully. Though she had hoped it would turn him on in the process. She knew she was right when she could feel Soul's hard on resting on her thigh. Soul was furious. He liked it, no doubt, but he had been trying to make her moan and turn her on long before himself, and he knew he had been close.

Growling, Soul decided on a new tactic. He wouldn't be as patient this time. Now pinning her arms with only one hand, Soul used his free hand to caress her hips and sides and come up to rest on her right breast. He then gave her boob a firm but gentle squeeze and Maka gasped sharply and whimpered. Soul smirked at her as she struggled. He knew she only did because it felt good.

He began to fondle her boob and suck on her neck right by the collarbone. Maka was breathing rapidly now. Soul could feel how hot her body was, and he could feel his getting hot, too. It made him wonder…

Soul shook his head. He couldn't be thinking like that. Even if they are kind of having a really hot make-out session on the floor of the master bedroom. He still had to keep control. He didn't want to lose it yet. Maka managed to capture his lips with hers and their tongues battled once more. He managed to find her hardened nipple through her bra and massaged it. Maka moaned into Soul's mouth, and Soul smirked into their kiss at this. He had managed to make Maka moan, and he wanted to hear more.

Maka was seething. She had to gain control! She had made Soul lose control a bit earlier, and she relished the feeling of power she received when she did. She wanted more, but how? Soul had her pinned, and as much as her head was telling her to stop, her body was completely giving in to him. She could feel his warm, large hand on her breast, playing with her. Without her mind's consent, she felt her body lift up, her back arched into Soul's hand so she could feel more. Her whole body was overrun with tingles and butterflies. She didn't know how much more of this she could handle!

Maka got her chance when Soul finally released her hands, putting them around his neck as he continued to kiss her neck, face, and top of her chest. Maka immediately put her fingers through his hair and pulled. Soul growled, warning her not to get too feisty or he would have to restrain her again. Maka then began to let the wheels in her head turn. That was when she became aware once again that her fiancé's hardness was right against her left thigh. Carefully, so he wouldn't notice she shifted her hips so they were directly in line with his which wasn't too noticeable since one of his hands had just tickled her exposed hip as Soul slowly lifted her shirt.

This was so unfair. Maka couldn't do anything to him, but he was allowed to sit here and feel her up, turning her on past her limits over and over? Oh, no. Not if she could help it, and without a second thought she thrust her hips up to meet his.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. And I apologize for kind of going song fic on you, but I couldn't help myself. And I can't give you what you want just yet because I have to keep you interested and on your toes somehow, right? lol ;)**

**Kristoffer, I swear if you don't freaking review! Just once!**


	21. Time For The Talk -- Curtesy of Liz

**Hey, sorry it took me so long, guys. I have just had slight difficulty in writing this because I have never written anything like this before. I apologize once again for taking so long, but I hope you enjoy! :)**

The sound Soul made was so sensual; it sent shivers down her spine. He growled and kissed her on the lips. Hard. He then pulled away with a mixture of shock and lust in his eyes.

"What," he gasped in an incredibly husky voice, "was that?"

Maka smirked and replied, "My revenge for restraining me. You're not the only one who likes to toy with the other."

As she said this, Maka put one hand on Soul's neck, pulling him down to kiss her, and the other traced its way down his chest, to his hip where his red, button-up shirt had lifted to expose a sliver of his nicely tanned skin. Maka let her hand trace his hip bone, and then she played with the waist band of his pants, moving her hand along until she found and undid the buckle, removing his belt.

Soul growled and moved his hands to her waist, soon trailing down to her legs. Maka had chosen to wear shorts that day, leaving a great length of her long legs exposed. Soul ran his hands up the outside of her legs slowly, feeling the smoothness of them. It made him want to continue rubbing them. That is exactly what he did.

Soul's hands trailed to the inside of her thighs, fingers dancing across her skin, leaving tingles in their wake. Maka shivered and the muscles on her inner thighs twitched and Maka began to feel a feeling she had only felt once before. It was when she had been torturing him to find out why he was suddenly turned on after their game of "Never Have I Ever" with their friends. Part of the reason she had stopped doing something that had felt so good is because she was afraid of the new sensations she had felt. Now, she felt them again. The heat was rippling through her. She could feel it churning in her abdomen like a hot chord being tightly wound over and over about to burst. And then it came: that odd feeling in lower areas. It was odd and confusing and strange. It came quickly as a heat and somewhat slickness between her legs that filled her with pleasure with every pulse of her beating heart vibrating through her small frame. It scared and excited her at the same time, and she wasn't sure which one she was surer of.

"Soul," she gasped out. Soul immediately stopped what he was doing to look at her flushed face. She was embarrassed. What for?

"What's wrong, Maka? Did I do something you didn't like?" Soul inquired in a concerned tone.

Maka nervously shook her head, "No, um, it's…" Maka blushed beneath her hair, now completely messed up and covering her face, and bit her lip as she looked into Soul's eyes, "No, I liked it. I just feel… hot all of a sudden."

Soul's eyes widened in immediate understanding. Before he smirked with an evil plan forming in his brain and spoke, "Maka, did you like this feeling? Did it feel… good and… how do you put it? Did I turn you on?"

Soul grabbed Maka by the hips and jerked her forward, bringing her closer to him as Maka gasped and her head shot up to look into Soul's intense stare. Immediately the passion and lust in his eyes made Maka jittery and she hesitated for a moment before answering breathlessly, "Yes."

Soul wasted no time. He lightly pushed Maka back onto her back as he began to lavish her in kisses, running his hands over her body, unable to get enough of her. Maka did much the same, kissing him back just as fervently as her small fingers explored and skimmed his toned body. Maka eventually became frustrated with Soul's shirt. All she could think was, _getting in the way, _before ripping it off of him, buttons flying in all directions.

"Aw, that was my favorite shirt," Soul teased.

"Tough," Maka retorted as she then proceeded to feel Soul's muscles like she never had before. His skin just felt so smooth and slightly rough as her hands glided across his stomach, back, and chest. It felt so right like nothing she had ever felt before. Occasionally, when Soul would rub or bite a certain sensitive part of her body, Maka would dig her nails into the other's back, causing him to moan or growl.

Now it was Soul's turn to become frustrated. This was moving rather slowly. He wanted to continue to explore Maka's body, but the clothes were getting in the way. They would have to go. It seemed like Maka had gotten the same idea as she then reached for his pants. As Maka undid Soul's zipper, Soul tore off Maka's shirt to reveal a black bra with red lace spider-webbing across it. Soul could feel the sensation of a little blood trickle down his nose. Maka had managed to give him a nose bleed, and she wasn't even fully naked. He was a goner.

Soul glared at Maka accusingly, "Did you plan this?"

Maka smirked, "You always have to be prepared."

Soul mocked the same infuriating half-smile in Maka's direction, "So you want to play games? Fine. Let's play."

Abandoning Soul's half-way unbuttoned pants, Maka's attention then turned to what exactly he was doing to her chest now. Soul had slid her bra straps down her shoulders enough to reveal her somewhat small, perky breasts and had taken a nipple in his mouth and hand on the other. As he fondled and teased one, his mouth went to work on the other. Latching onto her breast, he sucked lewdly at the sensitive nub, sending Maka into a symphony of moans before switching to the other and biting softly. Maka had no idea anything could feel that good. Her head was spinning like it was about to explode. She moaned aloud when Soul's tongue flicked at her erect bud, followed by arching her back as Soul bit down on the underside of her breast with his shark-like teeth.

"_Aa-ah, _Soul!" Maka called out.

Soul chuckled and looked into Maka's face, "Problem, Maka?"

His tone was so infuriating; it struck a chord with Maka. It the next moment, Maka felt a rush of power that she was sure had to do with the adrenaline rush Soul was giving her. In her moment with power, Maka quickly rolled them over, so she was on top of Soul, pulling her bra straps back up, so she had full control of her arms. She braced her legs on either side of Soul's hips, keeping him from changing positions immediately. In the few seconds that Soul was shocked and unable to react to what just happened Maka stripped Soul of his dark pants, exposing Soul's black boxers – _of course, they're black_ – glad that she didn't have to worry about shoes and socks since they had deposited those by the front door earlier.

As soon as Soul gained control of his actions once more, he quickly pulled Maka down to him and they're tongues battled for dominance. Soul enjoyed the feeling of his bare skin against Maka's (at least hers was mostly bare). Maka pushed Soul down to lay with his back flat against the floor. She then moved her mouth to his neck and sucked softly at his pulse. Soul moaned quietly, trying to hold it in, and Maka smirked against his skin.

"Problem, Soul," Maka said in a mocking tone as she traced a cool finger down Soul's scarred, heated body. Soul audibly whimpered, and Maka chuckled, "Come on, Soul. Moan for me."

Maka then kissed Soul softly, seductively. It was a kiss filled with passion and all of Maka's emotion and her longing, and that's when Soul lost it and was unable to hold back a rather loud moan. It was husky and a slight growl of a moan mixed with a sigh of pleasure. Maka stopped and gasped for air as she looked into his crimson eyes. She had never thought that she, Maka Albarn, commonly known as Tiny Tits, could ever make Soul Eater Evans, DWMA's previous playboy, make a sound like that. But before Soul could take advantage of the current situation, Maka mentally took hold of her libido and shackled it to the wall. She had to remain in control. And she wanted to make him moan again. And again and again. Maka then sat up slightly, raking her fingernails across his chest. Soul shivered slightly. Maka leaned down and nibbled Soul's ear, continuing to rake her fingers across his sensitive skin, drawing another whimper from Soul who was biting his lip. Maka kissed his jaw tenderly.

"Did you like that? Tell me."

Soul didn't trust his voice to work, so he simply nodded. What had happened to his timid meister? He'd get her back later. Right now, he was just trying to resist giving into this little minx whom was now perched atop him. So this is what it was like to be submissive…

"Good. Now do it again," Maka said simply.

Soul looked up at the girl looming above him. She had a completely serious expression which was slightly expectant now. Soul could do nothing. His voice was caught in his throat as he wanted to ask what she wanted. His realization came to him when he thought about why exactly he couldn't trust his voice. She wanted him to moan again. She wanted to be in control like she was. In fact, she relished the dominating power she held above him in that moment. What Soul hated about it though, is that having Maka in power in this situation reminded him of her wielding him in scythe mode, completely in control. And it turned Soul on more than anything had ever done before.

But he couldn't cave. Soul held his tongue as he gulped under her stare. Maka seemed to notice his hesitance, and for a moment Soul thought he would get away and find the chance to reverse positions to what they had been prior to Maka's spike of adrenaline. That was, until he saw the well-known half-smile grace Maka's features once more. In that moment, Soul shrank back and prepared for the worst.

Maka sat back completely until she was in a sitting position on top of Soul with her hands still resting on his chest. In her mind she was disappointed that she didn't get what she wanted. Soul must not be under her spell quite enough to moan on demand yet. Not to worry though. She would work him until he did. That is when she had become aware of her precise position atop of Soul and exactly what she could do to get what she wanted.

To say it bluntly, Soul was not prepared for what Maka did next. For some reason, it just didn't register that she would do anything similar to what she had done that night in his room. But she did. And Soul was defenseless against her. Soul was completely thrown off guard when Maka did several things at once.

Maka roughly ground her hips into his as she raked her nails across his chest simultaneously. Soul answered to the sudden movements with a sexy groan even louder than before. Maka giggled as she kissed him to muffle the moan. When they broke apart for air, Soul looked slightly confused with his face flushed from Maka's ministrations.

"I thought you wanted me to moan," Soul asked, puzzled.

"I did," Maka giggled as she lay on his chest.

"Then why muffle it?"

Maka grinned, "Anymore and I couldn't have taken it as it was – how do they say it? – undeniably hot."

Soul's eyes widened, "Re-really?"

Maka nodded and slowly sat up a little more, moving to hit neck. She slowly left a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses from his collarbone to his ear, which she nibbled, drawing a shudder of pleasure from her weapon, before whispering in his ear, "And you're going to do it again."

At that moment, Maka twisted Soul's nipple while biting down on her neck. Soul replied by calling out and arching his back. The sound was just so – so sexy that Maka couldn't help but want more. Her mind was overrun by thoughts of lust about Soul. She didn't understand why she was acting this way, and there was a great possibility that she would regret it in the morning, but at the moment, she didn't care. She wanted Soul, and that was all that mattered.

Soul gasped for air, and spoke huskily and breathlessly, "What the hell, Maka?"

Maka giggled, "Like it."

"Well, yeah, but I-I just didn't expect s-something like that from you."

"Better get used to it, Scythey Boy."

"Well, this is a nice turn of events. Don't you think so, Patty," said a familiar voice with a country twang that Maka and Soul knew all too well.

Maka and Soul froze and turned to face the intruders. Maka was horrified as she realized how naked she was, and she thanked Death that she had the important parts covered. In that moment, her inhibitions magically reemerged.

Patty giggled and replied, "Yep, sis. I think this is a really nice turn of events. Reeeeaaaally nice."

Maka and Soul slowly moved apart as the awkwardness ensued. Liz smirked and spoke with authority in her voice, "We need to have a talk. Now. Maka, grab a shirt. Quickly. And Soul?"

Soul lifted his face to see Liz standing at the door as Patty left the room followed by a shame-faced Maka wrapped in Soul's shirt. He followed her with his eyes and then turned back to Liz as he stood.

"Yeah?"

"That might have been the sexiest thing I've ever heard," Liz said earnestly and with a hint of teasing as she gave him a wink.

Soul all of a sudden felt very uncomfortable. He just shook the thought out of his head, muttering, "Not cool," and walked out to face the inevitable judgment.

* * *

Two of the dining table chairs had been moved to the center of the main room, one for each of the culprits. Maka was sitting in one already, clothed in her yellow shorts and Soul's shirt. It was open slightly since she had broken the buttons earlier in order to rip it off of Soul. Soul smirked at this and took a seat next to Maka, clad in only his black boxers.

"Something funny, Octopus Head," Liz said authoritatively.

Soul automatically straightened at the sound of the dreaded nickname given to him by none other than Spirit, Maka's father.

Maka was sitting with arms folded across her chest. She was slouching and avoiding eye contact almost as if pouting. Soul felt just as uncomfortable as she did; this situation was entirely uncool. There was just one question floating around in his mind.

Soul was shocked out of his mind's pondering as Liz stood in front of the pair with hand on hip and a criticizing expression painted on her face. Everyone else seemed to have the same expression. _Oh, great. Here comes the heavy…_ Well, all except Black*Star. It seemed he was struggling to hold in his laughter by biting his lip. Of course. At least he was quiet for now as they waited for Liz's inevitable speech and the scolding from their friends.

The awkward silence was broken by Liz slowly speaking, "So how does this make you feel about yourselves. Caught. In the act..er..almost act. Still, I am very disappointed in you both. We all are."

Silence.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US THAT YOU GUYS WERE HAVING SEX?!"

More Silence.

Maka hesitantly began to answer, "Well, we hadn't –."

Soul cut her off, "I didn't know we had to tell you guys that we ever decided to have sex. I mean, since when are you guys obligated to know about whether our sex life is active or not?"

Maka sent a Look in Soul's direction. What was he playing at? She was answered by hearing his voice in her mind. He linked their souls. _If they're going to question us, we might as well have fun with it. Otherwise this situation is so uncool._ Maka mentally nodded at Soul, but she was a bit uneasy about this.

"Because you're the last virgins in the group," Kidd answered, "It's a milestone. Especially since we've been trying to get you guys together for the longest time."

"Or they _were_ the last virgins," Iyame interjected from her perch on the back of the couch.

Maka fought to keep her face impassive as Soul skillfully answered with his smirk, "What do you think? I'll let you decide on that one."

"I think you were cock-blocked by our interruption," Iyame said bluntly. She always spoke her mind.

Soul's scoff and smirk led Ryoku to say, "I dunno, Iyame. He seems pretty confident."

Liz furrowed her eyebrow, "Well, why don't we ask Maka here? Maka, have you had sex with Soul?"

Maka was nervous. She didn't know if she could play this off as well as Soul, so Soul mentally nudged her. _You've got this. Pretend you're antagonizing me._

Maka grinned and answered confidently, "It's a very big possibility, you know. It would explain why we couldn't even keep our hand off of each other for an hour while waiting on you guys. Because Soul just can't get enough of me."

"Hey –!"

Soul was cut off by Black*Star finally breaking down and laughing loudly, "So does that mean Soul likes being dominated? Huh, _Scythey boy_?"

Soul cringed at the nickname, but Maka was on a roll, "Maybe he does. I am hard to resist after all, but you are one to talk about domination, Black*Star. Do you still have marks on your left wrist from the handcuffs Tsubaki put you in last time?"

Black*Star's jaw dropped and Tsubaki blushed furiously while averting her eyes. Maka smiled as she fought a battle in her head. _What is going on? Why am I acting so crazy?_

Liz perked up, "You seem to be avoiding the main question, Maka."

Maka turned to Liz, "Speaking of avoiding questions, Liz. Why don't you answer this one that you and Ryoku never answered: Who is on top?"

Liz shared Black*Star's expression adding an eye twitch as Ryoku laughed. Soul was kind of freaking out. He didn't mean for it to go this far. Maka knew almost all of the others' secrets. She was the universal confidant, but she didn't have to tease them just because she was avoiding answering the question.

Kidd cleared his throat, obviously raw from laughing so much, and spoke, "So, Soul, why don't you tell us?"

Soul grinned and answered truthfully, "We'll tell you when we do."

Iyame blurted, "I knew it! Cock blocked!"

Masamune covered her mouth, "Iyame, don't say such vulgar things," he chastised. Iyame answered by pulling his hand away from her mouth and sticking her tongue out with a smile and a wink.

Everyone shared a laugh. They were cute together, and Tsubaki was more than happy to have her brother back. She was more than grateful to Iyame for bringing her big brother back. They all laughed at the couple as they finally calmed and wiped the mirth from their eyes. Suddenly, Maka realized what she was wearing. Or rather the lack of clothes she was wearing.

"Um… How bout I go change clothes and then fix dinner?" she asked with a blush as she pulled Soul's shirt tighter around her small frame.

The group giggled and nodded their agreements. They were famished. Soul smiled at Maka and placed a hand at the small of her back as they departed to their room, Soul calling over his shoulder that there were drinks in the bar's refrigerator downstairs as they once again entered the master bedroom.

* * *

In the bedroom Maka sat down in one of the plush chairs and rested her chin in her hands as she was lulled deep in thought. Soul dressed in a dark grey, short sleeved, V-neck, and dark jeans. The shirt was a light material, made for running and exercising, but at the moment, Soul just wanted something comfortable. He walked over to Maka. Her behavior was beginning to puzzle him.

"Maka?"

Her head shot up, "Oh, hey, Soul."

"Are you okay?"

Maka nodded absent-mindedly, "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Maka nodded then shook her head, "No, I'm not. I shouldn't have acted like that out there. I don't know what's come over me. It's just not me. Is – Could there be something wrong with me, Soul? Have I gone mad?"

Soul felt Maka's forehead as she looked up at him expectantly. Soul knelt down to look her in the eyes, "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

Maka smiled and swatted away his hand as she recognized the quote from one of her favorite movies, "Soul," she whined, "I'm serious."

"I am, too," he said as Maka gave him a Look, "Not like that. You know what I mean. You're fine, and you're overthinking things. You were probably just giddy from how I made you feel earlier."

Maka smiled as she remembered, "You mean, how _I_ made _you_ feel?"

Soul chuckled as he stood again, pulling her up. "Sure. Now come on, slow poke. Get dressed and let's go cook. The others are probably starving. Not to mention me."

Maka playfully shoved him, and walked to her bags, "I dunno. I kinda like this look."

Maka pulled a greyish blue t-shirt out of her bag with a black radioactive symbol on it, and it read "Toxic" in green as she let Soul's broken button-up fall off her shoulders. Soul kissed her now exposed shoulder, "No objections here."

Maka shivered and playfully shoved him with her shoulder and hip, "As if."

Soul scoffed as she pulled the shirt on over her black jean shorts, "Come on, dearest. Let's go cook."

Maka smiled as she gave Soul a small peck on the lips before grabbing his hand and leading him out the door and upstairs to the kitchen.

* * *

As everyone else laughed and talked while drinking and being silly, Crona sat off to the side, wheels turning in her head. Something was up with Maka, and she thinks she knows exactly what that something was, and if she was right, that something could be very dangerous. Not only would it be for Maka, but it would be dangerous for Soul as well.

**Heh heh. I am evil. Sorry guys but I didn't quite give you a lemon yet. even though it did get very much like a lime cream there. So I decided that I needed to make it M rated else I get reported and the story deleted. O.o I would die... Anywayzas! I also had to throw in a plot twist! Yay! Don't you just love those? Hey, on the bright side, It will make the story longer! Well, Happy day for you, but for me... It gives me work. during the summer. Just to say. You better love me. **

**Meh.**


	22. Fashion Show and The Other Side

**I'm not even going to apologize this time. Too many apologies. heh. It's like every chapter I have an author's note saying I'm sorry for whatever reason I come up with next. Honestly, I'm lazy and it was hard trying to figure out exactly how to word and work everything. But once I have the layout in my head, it just comes to me. Hence, any mistakes. It's 3:00 am and I have church at 11 tomorrow. heh.. Well, I did this for my good friend Kris, because he _finally_ reviewed, the bugger. On every single chapter! No less than a small paragraph each review, and they all made me laugh. it was my birthday present I suppose as my 16th birthday just passed on Independence Day. Cool, huh? Anyways, another dedication is to my good friend Insanity-Candy. I recently introduced her to Fanfiction. She loves it. heh. And she's been checking out all my stories. even the ones no one else ever bothers to read. So it makes me happy. Anyways. I will try my best to get this updated in a regular fashion that doesn't involve making you guys wait a month or months at a time. *nervous laugh* Well, I shall try anyways... Wish me luck as I am a lazy procrastinator. I haven't even started on my summer reading for my AP Lit class... Oh, boy...**

**Enjoy. :)**

Maka hummed as she cooked dinner. She was making sure to make extra, for she had several more mouths to feed than usual. Black*Star, Liz, and Patty could definitely put some food away. Soul was busy getting together the ingredients for the dessert. Yes, Soul could cook, but desserts were his specialty (If you know what I mean). Maka was waiting for the lasagnas to finish in the oven. She made two large ones, one meat and one vegetarian, and one smaller meat one just in case. As she was waiting the last five minutes for the food to cook, her eyes wandered to Soul.

The weapon stood over the counter with an expression of deep concentration written on his face. He looked very handsome in his black t-shirt and gray under-armor sweats. They looked like slacks, but in sweat pants form. In conclusion, they were just a really nice pair of sweats. Maka subconsciously allowed her eyes to linger on his fit bottom. _Liz was right; Soul does have a hot ass_, she thought shamelessly just before she snapped out of her trance and blushed at what she had just been thinking. Just what had gotten into her lately?

Maka continued to look Soul over. He had been so into his work, that he hadn't noticed the chocolate fudge on his cheek_. He must have wiped it on his face without thinking. He's so cute._ Maka looked down at the black apron he wore. It read "Do you like it hot or cold?" in white font across his chest. Maka smirked. Of course. Soul would be one to have an apron with an innuendo, and as Soul said, there was no such thing as an explicit innuendo.

Maka watched as Soul carefully layered the liquid-like fudge over the graham cracker at the top. He was making an éclair pie. It was pretty simple, and he had only started fifteen minutes earlier. Soul, of course, made everything from scratch aside from the graham cracker. It was a layering process: graham cracker crust, creamy vanilla filling mixed with graham cracker pieces, and graham cracker crumbles on top followed by the chocolate fudge. Yummy. Soul let out a sigh of satisfaction as he finished his masterpiece and delicately placed it in the refrigerator to cool. It was good heated, too, with the fudge melted, but Soul preferred it cold for un-romantic situations, chocolate being an aphrodisiac and all. The shark-toothed weapon then shut the fridge and turned to see Maka staring and smirking at him.

A slightly startled Soul raised a brow at his meister as he slowly put his hands behind his back to untie the apron, "Can I help you with something, Maka? Or are you just staring because you like what you see?" he asked her with a smirk as he removed the apron and returned it to its hanger.

Maka scoffed, the smirk never leaving her face as she replied in kind, "Maybe I'm staring because the Dessert Miser made a mess on his face."

Soul knew what she was doing. He liked this game. It was a game they played often of pretend arguing with snarky comments. Usually he just played until he embarrassed her enough to make her blush, but ever since they began dating, Maka had become a little bolder. It was only a little, but it still made it a bit more difficult to win the game. It was a challenge Soul intended to accept. "Dessert Miser, huh? I like it. I have something on my face, do I? Care to clean it up for me?" Soul replied with a wink.

Maka fought back the urge to blush and slowly walked over to her weapon. She placed a hand on his shoulder to keep balance as she placed the other hand on his clean cheek, and standing on her toes, proceeded to lick the fudge off of his cheek in a very seductive manner. After she had finished this she leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Challenge accepted."

Soul became slightly confused and raised a brow, but the only answer he received was the girl he loved pressing her lips to his. Soul immediately melted at her touch. He closed his eyes and quickly placed his hands on her hips and kissed her back. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip, and she allowed him entrance. Soul held back a moan. She tasted like fudge. He was so distracted from snogging Maka, he groaned in frustration when she pulled away unexpectedly. This action was awarded with a giggle from Maka, making Soul's face turn slightly pink before he shook it off, giving her a questioning look. Maka grinned, "Buzzer went off." Maka was still within close proximity to Soul. "You know Liz was right," she stated. Soul looked at her questioningly once more, so she dropped her hand from Soul's neck in answer to cup Soul's firm buttocks with her hand, giving it a nice squeeze.

Soul immediately yelped and jumped away, "Bloody hell, woman! What was that?"

Soul was red-faced by now and was embarrassedly rubbing his left butt cheek. He couldn't help it. He yelped because it surprised him, and now his butt felt weird. It was sensitive and she was laughing at him. Maka answered as she turned around to pull the lasagnas out onto the counter to cool, "Liz was right," she repeated, "You have a nice ass, little Dessert Miser."

Soul started. He knew what she was doing. He mentally cursed himself for letting her play him like that. She had just won the game by making him blush and get embarrassed. Soul sighed. This was not right, no matter if he enjoyed it. Soul facepalmed. He had lost to Maka of all people. Unless, of course, Soul could somehow embarrass her just as much. Soul smirked at the thought as he stalked over to Maka whom was busy cutting the lasagna into slices. She had just set the knife down when Soul wrapped his arms around her. Maka started for a second before relaxing at his touch.

"You're lucky that I just put the knife down," she chided him, but she stopped speaking suddenly and her smile dropped to be replaced by a slightly confused expression when Soul began to whisper in her ear, his chin resting on her shoulder, "After lights out, I'll show you exactly what a Dessert Miser is capable of. I can assure you that I'll live up to that name." To prove his point further, he gave her tush a squeeze just as she had done to him a few moments earlier.

Maka shivered and blushed wildly, "Uh, Soul!" she huffed as she turned on him, "That's so unfair!"

Soul laughed, but before Maka had the chance to do anything, Soul grabbed two of the lasagnas and was swiftly down the stairs to place them on the table. Maka let out a frustrated growl and stomped her foot softly before grabbing the last lasagna to take it to the table.

* * *

After dinner, Maka sat on the small ottoman-like thing behind the couch as she pouted about her loss in The Game against Soul. The guys were sitting at the table playing cards, the twins looking bored as hell. The other girls, including Crona, stood near the windowed walls discussing something. Maka straightened a bit. What could they be talking about? Maka was sure she knew when she saw Tsubaki cast a few glances over to the table where the guys sat. Just as Maka began to stand and walk over to them, she was pulled up by Liz and the other girls, and before she knew it, she was being whisked away from the living room and up to Liz and Ryoku's room.

Maka immediately knew what was going on as soon as a dress of sorts was shoved into her arms and the other girls also began to change. The dress was pretty. It was sea foam green and strapless. It hugged her torso, and flared out after her waist into ruffles ending at her mid-thigh which gave the effect of making her look like a fairy. Liz pulled Maka's hair down and let the waves cascade down to her shoulders. Liz smiled as she gave Maka a thumbs-up and pushed her out the door, Patty quickly following with a cute pink dress on as she used the remote to turn on the stereo. The plan was in motion.

The boys were absolutely stunned when they looked up from the table to see their girlfriends walking down the steps parading in short and cute dresses. Maka could have sworn she saw a bit of drool on the corner of Soul's mouth. It was just a dress… Maka shyly looked away as she caught sight of Patty rocking it as she strutted with a smile on her face. She was really getting into it, and she looked as if she was having fun with it, so Maka decided to do the same. Maka smiled slightly and did a twirl as she reached the end of her walk. She did a few poses as she waited for the others to walk out and stop to pose, and then, with a wink to Soul, Maka lightly tiptoed back to Liz's room for her next outfit. The next category was casual, and Maka had a dress for that one as well. It was a white sundress that showed off her golden tan complete with a tan colored belt around the waist. It had ruffled shoulders and had an A-line cut, showing off her slight bust. Maka decided she liked this dress and she might even wear it on a date with Soul sometime. Maka glanced back and saw Patty in a pink sundress. _Was everything she wore pink?_ Maka floated down the steps and her eyes almost immediately found her partners.

Soul straightened as he saw her. Maka smiled when she saw a slight blush cross his cheeks as he gave her a shy smile. It was so adorable how Maka truly didn't know exactly how she was affecting him by simply walking out in a cute dress. Soul didn't take his eyes off of her once as she pranced by. Maka did not strut, she floated or glided. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She was adorably beautiful, and it took everything in Soul to not get up and grab her and kiss her sweetly. Maka looked so amazing that it almost hurt his chest with longing for her. It wasn't a particularly sexy dress, but it complimented her figure extremely well, and it felt guilty Soul to think that no matter how cute the dress was, he just wanted to take it off and make love to her. He just wanted her to see what she was doing to him. That girl would be the death of him and he was so in love that it hurt.

Soul had been so distracted by the thought of Maka; he didn't notice her leave the room to change. Two or three outfits had already been displayed, and he saw Maka clad in a beautiful evening gown. It was a beautiful deep red. It was t-length, and had toil from the waist down. The strapless bodice was decorated with beads. The sweetheart neckline hugged her body and made her look fabulous. Really. The red seemed to make her eyes glow. The look Soul was giving her was so intense that it caused Maka to blush, and as she walked out in her final outfit, she was still blushing. She was dressed in dark skinny jeans, converse boots, a purple sequined shirt with lace on the back, and a mini leather jacket. Needless to say, Maka looked hot, and she knew it. She blew a kiss to Soul as she walked down the stairs. After the final pose, the song changed to a song by Jason Derulo called "The Other Side." Soul immediately stood and grabbed Maka by the hand as everyone started dancing. Maka began singing along as they danced to the beat. Soul smiled at her as she danced with him. _When did she learn to dance like that?_ Maka had a look in her eyes as they danced. And she wasn't the only one who knew a few moves. Soul also knew the words. By the second verse, he was singing as well, and dancing. Then it was only them. No one else seemed to matter. Soul and Maka were alone with each other on the living room floor, dancing to their hearts' content. Soul had no idea Maka could dance that well. She came closer, and at the verse that sang "_Bind your hands all over me"_ Maka came behind him and wrapped her arms around him, running her hands all over his chest. Soul then grabbed her hand and she spun out from behind him and bit her lip like the lyrics said as he pulled her to him for both to spin out and fall in with the beat again.

Soul was going crazy with this song. Maka was beside herself. She didn't know he could dance that well, so she was definitely gonna have fun with this. She would see if he could keep up. At the chorus, Soul began with the back beat as Maka took the melody and danced with the lyrics. At once, they slowed to the lyrics at the bridge right before the final chorus. Moving in choppy movements and freezing after striking a pose that complimented the other's. At the last line of the bridge "_Whisper and say, 'We're going all the way'"_ they stood close, looking into each other's eyes. There was the pause in the music just before "_Tonight!"_, and they shared a look. Maka wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling she had when they shared it, made her curious. Then the bass dropped again and the music began again to let them dance, "_Take me to the other side. Sparks fly like the Fourth of July. Just take me to the other side; I see that sexy look in your eyes and I know, we ain't friends anymore. If we walk down this road, we'll be lovers for sure, so Tonight! Kiss me like it's do or die. And take me to the other side!"_ It seemed to Maka and Soul that neither was simply dancing anymore. They were taking these lyrics literally. Butterflies started beating in Maka's chest. Why was this happening? She hardly ever got nervous from Soul anymore, yet here she was getting weak knees from the look he was giving her. Nervous and slightly afraid she might mess up what Soul was about to do, Maka tried to spin away, but Soul pulled at the right moment and she came back like a boomerang. Maka spun into him and looked into his eyes.

Both breathless, they stood there gazing into each other's eyes, and Soul spoke, "Kiss me like it's do or die, Maka."

Maka and Soul kissed softly and sweetly before Maka pulled away to whisper in reply, "And take me to the other side."

The couple kissed until song's end. When the music stopped, they pulled away, once again breathless as they looked into each other's eyes. _Did something just happen?_ Maka thought as she looked into his crimson eyes.

_Did what I think just happened, just happen?_ Thought Soul, looking into Maka's emerald orbs.

The puzzled pair just stood there until Crona came wandering over wondering if they were okay since they had been standing there for the past five minutes after the music stopped. The weapon and meister shook their heads out of the trance and assured Crona that they were okay. Everyone was going to bed as it was late. Just as Maka was about to leave the room with Soul, Crona stopped her again. "U-um, Maka, is it okay i-if I talk to you about something f-for a second? It won't t-take long," Crona inquired nervously.

Soul kissed Maka's forehead and wished her to hurry to bed, and turned to go. As Maka made to follow Crona into the kitchenette downstairs, she let her thoughts wonder.

_What could Crona have on her mind to talk about of such importance?_

**Yup. You know the drill. Another Cliffhanger. Gotta keep you interested somehow, don't I? I'll do my best to update soon.  
**


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